Thirty miles off the coast of Queensland, Australia, a small piece of history was made last summer: Scientists transplanted hundreds of nursery-grown coral fragments onto the beleaguered Great Barrier Reef.

The process itself is not new—coral transplants have been used to help restore damaged reefs for decades. What’s new is that it’s happening on the world’s largest reef, an icon of marine life that has been dubbed one of the seven wonders of the natural world.

The Australian authority that manages the Great Barrier Reef has traditionally resisted intervening in the reef’s ecology, preferring to let it recover naturally. But the bruising reality of climate change is forcing a more hands-on approach.

A report released on November 28 by the