Internat'l coral funding

[Eileen Alicea]

A new opportunity for funding of international coral reef projects is
now available through NOAA’s Coral Reef Conservation Grant Program,
which was published in the Federal Register on Friday, April 19.  The
international grant information below is excerpted from the Federal
Register, Vol. 67, No. 76

The Final Program Guidelines provide a general overview of the program,
while the Fiscal Year 2002 Funding Guidance provides specific
information on the eligibility, proposal content, etc. for each of the
six program areas included in this year’s funding. Both of the documents
may be found at http://www.coral.noaa.gov/crcp.  Applications for
funding are due to NOAA on MAY 24, 2002.

Eligible Applicants
Applicants will be international governmental and non-governmental
organizations and institutions including Federated States of Micronesia,
Palau, and the Marshall Islands

The International grant program has four objectives:
1. Promote Monitoring of Coral Ecosystems: The National Action Plan
gives priority to collaboration with the Global Coral Reef Monitoring
Network (GCRMN), recognizing the importance of its biennial Status of
Coral Reefs of the World reports, and extensive partnerships with
regional and national monitoring efforts. Therefore, activities will
focus on expanding biophysical monitoring networks that contribute to
understanding the status of coral reefs, promoting public awareness, and
contributing to local management objectives. In FY 2002, emphasis will
be placed on community participation in monitoring programs,
communication of results to policy makers, and commitment to make data
available to the GCRMN Data Centre at the International Centre for
Living Aquatic Resources.

2. Enhance Management Effectiveness of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs):
The National Action Plan calls for strengthening the protection of
resources within existing MPAs. NOAA has launched strategic partnerships
with the World Conservation Union's (IUCN) World Commission on Protected
Areas (WCPA) and World Wildlife Fund (WWF)International to improve the
management of MPAs by providing managers, planners, and other
decision-makers with methods for assessing the effectiveness of MPA
sites and national systems of MPAs.
Therefore, funded activities will focus on assessing the effectiveness
of management at those pilot coral MPAs that apply and test the approach
and indicators developed therein.

3. Encourage Regional Approaches to Further Marine Reserves in the
Caribbean and Southeast Asia: The National Action Plan highlights the
role that highly protected areas (i.e., no-take ecological reserves)
play in creating a network of coral marine protected areas for
biodiversity conservation and sustainable fisheries management. The
Program will fund activities that support the development of networks of
marine reserves in the Caribbean and Southeast Asia. The Program will
fund regional-level activities that promote the design and
implementation of no-take marine reserves such as awareness campaigns on
the value of marine reserves for government officials and policy makers
throughout the region, or training workshops on sustainable financing
mechanisms for marine reserve management. The Caribbean and Southeast
Asia regions were selected in part because of the substantial interest
and existing experience with marine reserves.

4. Promote the Use of Socio-Economic Assessments in Marine Protected
Areas: The National Action Plan recognizes that the human dimension is
often overlooked in developing coral reef management strategies and
calls for measures to enhance understanding of stakeholder benefits and
resolve important user conflicts. Recognizing the importance of the
human dimension, the GCRMN, in partnership with NOAA, WCPA, and the
Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS), recently published The
Socioeconomic Manual for Coral Reef Management, a guide to conducting
socioeconomic assessments of reef user groups.

Awards
Awards will be for $30,000 –$40,000 each for 12-18 month duration with
an Oct 1st start date.
Project duration should be 12-18 months and matching contributions
should be from non-US Federal sources.  If an organization has no
reasonable means to provide a match, please refer to Section VIII.
Matching funds of the Program Guidelines Federal Register Notice at
http://www.coral.noaa.gov/crcp/ for detailed instructions

How to apply:
One original and two signed project proposal packages of federal forms
and work proposal should be submitted to: David Kennedy, NOAA Coral
Program Coordinator, Office of Response and Restoration, N/ORR, NOAA
National Ocean Service, 1305 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910
with ATTENTION to International Coral Reef Conservation.  Fax Number is
301-713-4389.  Applications must be received by FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2002.
Notice of intent to fund will be sent to applicants by June 28, 2002 and
final applications are due to NOAA on July 19, 2002.  Please consider
delivery times from international or remote locations.  No electronic
mail applications will be accepted.

International funding information begins at IX. International Coral Reef
Conservation of the Funding Guidelines FRN.  Pertinent federal forms
include forms SF-424, SF-424A, SF-424B, CD 511,CD 512, and SF-LLL, and
can be obtained from the NOAA grants Website at
www.rdc.noaa.gov/~grants/pdf.  For more information, please contact
Eileen Alicea at eileen.alicea at noaa.gov or 301-713-3078 x218.
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