Coral Reef Fund Announces $3.5 Million in Grants

Twenty-nine conservation programs and organizations around the world were selected this week to receive a total of $3.5 million in grant funding to help protect and preserve coral reefs, according to news from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Since its creation in 2000, the Coral Reef Conservation Fund has distributed more than $19 million in matching funds for 194 conservation projects in 35 countries. The fund is managed by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation in partnership with NOAA's Coral Reef Conservation Program.

"Healthy coral reefs provide the United States and thousands of communities around the world with food, jobs, shoreline protection, recreation and income worth billions of dollars each year," said Conrad C. Lautenbacher Jr., a retired Navy Vice Admiral, undersecretary of commerce and NOAA administrator. "However, many reefs are now seriously degraded. These grants will help communities from the Caribbean to Micronesia protect and restore valuable coral reefs and the economies that depend on them."

Coral Fund grants encourage hands-on projects to reduce polluted runoff from land, improve the management of protected reefs, prevent anchor damage with the installation of mooring buoys and build public awareness of the importance of coral reefs. This year's awards, supported by $1.3 million in federal funds and $2.2 million in matching contributions, will help finance projects in 11 countries, two U.S. territories and three U.S. freely associated states.

"These grants are designed to identify and address the greatest threats to these very important and fragile marine habitats, and develop measurable conservation outcomes in order to track their performance," said Jeff Trandahl, executive director of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. "In addition, several projects will be supporting activities for the International Year of the Reef 2008 to raise awareness of the many threats facing coral reefs."

Among the national grants announced this year are $100,000 for reef fish protection research in the Dry Tortugas west of Key West and in the U.S. Virgin Islands; $65,000 to encourage media coverage of reef issues in the U.S. and internationally; $60,000 for the Communicate Science of International Coral Meeting in Fort Lauderdale, Florida; $60,000 to support Paphanaumokuakea Marine National Monument Imagery and Reef Fest; $40,000 for public service announcements about the Year of the Reef 2008; $30,000 for expansion of a reef-saving mooring buoy system in Broward County, Florida; $30,000 for online outreach efforts promoting the International Year of the Reef 2008; and $30,000 to Reef Check National.

Additional grants will fund projects for community education, stream discharge cleanup, reef health assessment, fishermen education, sustainable tourism tests and biofuel for reef management in Hawaii; Palau, Micronesia, Melanesia, Polynesia, Guam, the Northern Marianas Islands, Malaysia, Vanuatu, the Philippines, Belize, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, the Bahamas and the Caribbean.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, "NOAA and National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Award $3.5 Million for Coral Reef Conservation." URL: (http://www.publicaffairs.noaa.gov/releases2007/sep07/noaa07-r440.html)