[Coral-List] NOAA 2006 General Coral Reef Conservation Funding Opportunity

Andy Bruckner Andy.Bruckner at noaa.gov
Tue Sep 6 10:44:48 EDT 2005


2006 NOAA General Coral Reef Conservation Grants

An opportunity of funding for coral reef projects conducted in the U.S.
and freely associated States through NOAA's Coral Reef Conservation
Grant Program (CRCGP) is now available. The CRCG is accepting
applications for projects that address at least one of the following 7
categories: (a) Monitoring and assessment of coral reefs or reef
resources; (b) Socio-economic assessments and resource valuation; (c)
Marine Protected Areas and associated management activities; (d) Coral
reef fisheries management and enforcement; (e) Coral reef restoration;
(f) Public education and outreach activities; and (h) Local action
strategy projects.. Research activities are eligible only if they
directly relate to management or are listed as a project within a local
action strategy. These categories are described in more detail below.

Initial applications for funding must be received by NOAA before
midnight, Eastern Time, on November 15, 2005.  The full announcement was
published in the Federal government grants website:
http://fedgrants.gov/ on July 1, 2005.

Applicants requesting financial assistance through the General Coral
Reef Conservation Program should submit applications for federal funds
ranging from $15,000-$50,000. These grants require a 1:1 non-federal
match.  The NOAA Administrator may waive all or part of the matching
requirement if the applicant provides full justification for a waiver of
the match in writing. The Administrator must determine that the project
meets the following two requirements:

1. No reasonable means are available through which an applicant can meet
the matching requirement, and
2. The probable benefit of such project outweighs the public interest in
such matching requirement.

Eligible applicants include institutions of higher education, non-profit
organizations, commercial organizations, Freely Associated State
government agencies, and local and Indian tribal governments. Activities
must support conservation projects for coral reef ecosystems of the
United States, including our territories and the Freely Associated
States in the Pacific (Republic of Palau, the Republic of the Marshall
Islands, and the Federated States of Micronesia).

For each project proposed, the preapplication (this is a full
application without the federal forms) should not exceed 25 pages,
including descriptions of qualification, letters of support and no more
than five pages of other attachments, and should use 12-point font on
letter size paper.

Pre-applications may be submitted by surface mail or e-mail. Submission
by e-mail to coral.grants at noaa.gov is preferred. If submitting by
surface mail, applicants are encouraged to include an electronic copy of
the pre-application or final application on disk or CD. Federal
financial assistance forms are not required to be submitted with the
pre-application. Paper pre-applications must be submitted to: David
Kennedy, NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program Coordinator, Office of
Response and Restoration, N/ORR, Room 10102, NOAA National Ocean
Service, 1305 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910. Electronic
pre-applications must be submitted to coral.grants at noaa.gov. Fax
submittals will also be accepted for pre-applications (Fax:
301-713-4389). Electronic acceptable formats are limited to Adobe
Acrobat (.PDF), WordPerfect or Microsoft Word files.

The Fiscal Year 2006 Federal Funding Opportunity provides specific
information and details on the eligibility, proposal content, etc., for
each of the seven categories included in this year's funding
announcement. To access the PDF file of this Federal Funding
Opportunity, please access www.fedgrants.gov and search for Federal
Funding Opportunity Number NMFS-HCPO-2006-2000348.

Applications must  fall within at least one of the following 7
categories:
a. Monitoring and assessment of coral reefs or reef resources:
Monitoring and assessment activities conducted by community and
non-governmental organizations that complement or fill gaps in state and
territorial coral reef monitoring programs.
 b. Socio-economic assessments and resource valuation: Studies to
develop regional economic valuations of coral reef ecosystems including
both market and non-market values to help strengthen management
approaches and ensure effective decision making. This could include
community assessments, economic valuations, and alternative income
generation workshops.
 c. Marine Protected Areas and associated management activities:
Studies, workshops and other coordinated regional planning efforts to
(1) assess effectiveness and gaps of existing marine protected area
systems; (2) develop and provide tools to increase effectiveness of MPA
design and management including models of community-based conservation,
policy guidance and model legislation, assessment of legal and policy
frameworks; (3) evaluate management effectiveness or determine
functional linkages among MPA sites; (4) engage diverse stakeholders and
incorporate the best available science in the design, planning or
implementation of coral reef MPAs or MPA networks; and (5) support
outreach and education to facilitate participation and cooperation at
local to national levels in design and implementation of coral reef MPAs

 d. Coral reef fisheries management and enforcement: Activities that (1)
identify, monitor and protect critically important fisheries habitats
and populations; (2) provide strategies to reduce destructive fishing,
bycatch and overfishing; and (3) reduce overexploitation of reef
organisms for the aquarium trade. This could include resource
assessments, collection of fishery information, outreach to fishers,
co-management of coral reef fisheries by fishing communities, and other
activities that complement state, territorial or Regional Fishery
Management Council activities and programs.
e. Coral reef restoration: Activities to (1) review and evaluate
existing reef restoration projects; (2) develop and test innovative
methods and techniques to expedite reef restoration; (3) promote
cost-effective pilot restoration projects; and (4) transfer proven
restoration tools, techniques and lessons to communities, local, state
and territorial government agencies and other partners.  This includes
restoration activities for coral reefs and associated habitats that were
damaged by physical and biological disturbances such as orphan vessel
groundings, storm events, coral disease and coral predator outbreaks,
and anthropogenic disturbances, with emphasis on projects utilizing
innovative coral restoration technologies and/or comprehensive
evaluation of restoration sites.
 f. Public education and outreach activities: Activities that (1) raise
awareness and understanding of coral reef ecosystems; (2) create and
distribute solution-focused outreach materials targeting specific
threats and user-groups; and (3) promote local and regional outreach
efforts designed to modify behaviors that affect reefs on a local scale.
This could include the development and dissemination of brochures and
other informational materials, and convening of public meetings and
workshops, particularly those which address the needs of local user
groups.
 g. Local action strategy projects: The U.S. states and territories,
under purview of the USCRTF, have developed local action strategies to
address six priority threats: overfishing, land-based sources of
pollution, lack of public awareness, recreational overuse or misuse,
disease and coral bleaching, and climate change.  These strategies
provide a list of specific projects that each state and territory would
like to implement.  Proposals must identify the particular priority LAS
project(s) that their activities will focus on and the project they are
conducting. The applicant must develop an implementation plan in
consultation with state and territorial governments prior to submission
of the application, and include letters of support from the relevant
government agency. Information on current local action strategies can be
found NOAA Fisheries Office of Habitat Conservation website:
http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/habitat/ecosystem/fundingopps.htm.





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