[Coral-List] NOAA International Coral Conservation Grants
Louis Florit
Louis.Florit at noaa.gov
Wed Nov 19 12:41:32 EST 2003
Forwarded message from Eileen Alicea; please respond to her regarding
the message below. Thank you.
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: NOAA International Coral grants
Date: Fri, 07 Nov 2003 16:50:51 -0500
From: Eileen Alicea <Eileen.Alicea at noaa.gov>
To: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
NOAA International Coral Conservation Grants
An 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 government grants
website on Tuesday, July 2, 2003. Applications for funding are DUE TO
NOAA on March 12, 2004.
The Fiscal Year 2004 Federal Funding Opportunity provides specific
information on the eligibility, proposal content, etc., for each of the
four international coral conservation project categories included in
this year's funding. To access the PDF file of this Federal Funding
Opportunity, please go to http://ipo.nos.noaa.gov/coralgrants.html.
Eligible Applicants
Eligible applicants include all international, governmental, and
non-governmental organizations, including the Federated States of
Micronesia, Republic of Palau, and the Republic of the Marshall Islands.
Eligibility is also contingent upon whether activities undertaken with
respect to the application would be consistent with any applicable
conditions or restrictions imposed by the U.S. government.
The International Grant Program has four project categories:
1. Promote Watershed Management in Wider Caribbean small island
communities excluding the Mesoamerican coral reef corridor: : The
National Action Plan encourages the U.S. to "provide
assistance in managing and conserving reef ecosystems and their
watersheds." Further, the U.S. and its partners are launching the White
Water to Blue Water Initiative presented at the World Summit on
Sustainable Development. This Partnership emphasizes a cross-sectoral
approach to marine resources management beginning with the upstream
watershed and extending to the adjacent marine environment, including
coral ecosystems. It is intended to help implement international
agreements and programs, for example, the Barbados Programme of Action
for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States, The
Convention for the Protection and Development of the Marine Environment
of the Wider Caribbean Region (the Cartagena Convention) and its three
protocols (including The Protocol concerning Pollution from Land-based
Sources and Activities), and the International Coral Reef Initiative.
Therefore, IPO
will fund activities that implement best management practices that
reduce or control runoff to near shore coral reef ecosystems in the
Wider Caribbean; assess effectiveness of these management practices;
engage stakeholders and government agencies in collaborative
partnerships to implement these practices; and recommend a set of best
management practices that can be applied to small island Caribbean systems.
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 a strategic
partnership 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. Therefore, IPO will fund activities at coral MPA sites that
are building an adaptive management and evaluation program and will
conduct an assessment of management effectiveness in order to strengthen
and achieve the
site goals and objectives. The first subcategory of the Management
Effectiveness category will emphasize single site projects and the
second subcategory will emphasize regional capacity building in the
WCPA-Marine/WWF methodology. Project must incorporate the approach
being developed by the WCPA-Marine/WWF International MPA Management
Effectiveness Initiative. The approach can be found in the working draft
of How is Your MPA Doing? Guidebook for Evaluating Effectiveness of
MPA’s posted at http://effectiveMPA.noaa.gov.
3. Encourage Regional Approaches to Further No-Take Marine Reserves in
the Wider Caribbean and Southeast Asia: The "National Action Plan"
highlights the role that highly protected areas play in creating a
network of coral marine protected areas for biodiversity, conservation
and sustainable fisheries management. Through this program, IPO will
fund regional level activities that benefit existing or proposed marine
reserve networks of 2 or more sites in one or more countries in the
Wider Caribbean and Southeast Asia. Preference will be given to projects
that involve 2 or more countries. However, funds awarded to the project
through this announcement may not be allocated for work at a U.S. site.
Southeast Asia shall be defined by Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos,
Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Furthermore,
proposed regional level activities must address the needs of no-take
marine reserves in the regions as identified in the WCPA – Marine
Caribbean Regional Enhancement Plan and the WCPA-Marine Southeast Asia
Regional Action Plan.
4. Promote Socio-Economic Monitoring in Coral Reef Management: The
"National Action Plan" highlights 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 published The
Socioeconomic Manual for Coral Reef Management, in partnership with
NOAA, WCPA, and the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS), a
guide to conducting socioeconomic assessments of reef user groups. As
follow-up, the GCRMN, WCPA-Marine and NOAA are working with ICLARM, the
University of West Indies and other partners in the regions to develop
socioeconomic monitoring programs specific to Southeast Asia and the
Wider Caribbean. These regional programs include three key phases: (1)
development of SocMon, i.e., standardized, simple
socioeconomic monitoring guidelines for each region; (2) socioeconomic
training workshops for reef managers to learn how to conduct SocMon,
specifically how to establish socioeconomic monitoring programs at their
sites; and, (3) establishment of socioeconomic monitoring programs at
participants coral reef management programs. Under this project
category, IPO will fund phase three - the establishment of socioeconomic
monitoring programs at coral reef sites in Southeast
Asia and the Wider Caribbean. Proposals for such work in the Wider
Caribbean must utilize the SocMon-Wider Caribbean Guidelines; and
similarly, proposals for work in Southeast Asia must utilize the
SocMon-Southeast Asia Guidelines. For the purpose of this project
category, Southeast Asia shall be defined as Brunei, Cambodia,
Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Approximately $400,000 will be available in FY 2004 to support 8-10
grants and cooperative agreements under this program, subject to the
availability of funds. Approximately $75,000-$100,000 will be allocated
to each of the four project categories as listed below, with the
following award ranges:
a. Watershed Management: Up to $75,000
b. Management Effectiveness:
(1) Single site projects: $20,000-$40,000
(2) Regional capacity building projects: $100,000
c. Marine Reserves: $25,000 - $40,000
d. Socio-economic Monitoring: $15,000 - $25,000
For more information, please contact Eileen Alicea at
eileen.alicea at noaa.gov or 301-713-3078 x218.
More information about the Coral-List
mailing list