Abstract
Utilising case studies, the paper identifies the potential of artificial reefs as a tool to aid the rehabilitation of coastal ecosystems from an ecological perspective. It goes on to discuss how this potential can be constrained by the action of a complex array of legal frameworks and political processes which are not necessarily attuned to or supportive of the needs of habitat restoration (whether based on artificial reefs or other technologies). Apart from institutional inertia, one of the main reasons why support for habitat restoration projects may be lacking is that, while their costs may be expressed in monetary terms, their benefits rarely are. The paper concludes by exploring techniques by which both the benefits and costs of coastal rehabilitation may be monetised, thereby placing them on the same footing as other programmes whose economic returns are more easily quantified.