Regulatory red tape blocks reef rescue

Marine heatwaves unfold on timescales of days to weeks, but environmental permitting, provenance checks and funding move on months‑to‑years cycles; that mismatch routinely prevents field scientists from performing rapid conservation triage (collecting, ex situ care, assisted relocation, experimental genetics). We need pre‑authorized emergency conservation pathways, rapid‑response permitting, and validated risk‑tolerance rules for climate crises. — Designing legal and administrative fast‑tracks for ecological emergency interventions has large implications for conservation law, climate adaptation policy, and how states balance precaution with rapid, experimental rescue of public natural assets.