Tourism is acknowledged as a double-edged sword within marine protected areas (MPAs), as it can both contribute to stressors and provide stress-reducing strategies. The INREEF program aims to address the impact of tourism fluctuations, along with climate change, fishing, and pollution, on the ecological integrity, local livelihoods, cohesion, and governance capacities of MPAs. Through a collaborative initiative, our objective is to identify and create tools for assessing the resilience of MPAs, monitoring their status, and implementing effective governance measures to protect coral reefs in an era of varying tourism patterns and climate change. This research program is funded by INREF – Wageningen Interdisciplinary Research and Education Fund.