[Coral-List] General Coral Reef Conservation Grants: availability of funds

[Andy Bruckner]

The NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program announces the availability of
funding for General Coral Reef Conservation Grants (GCRCGP) for FY07.
This program provides funding to institutions of higher education,
non-profit organizations, commercial organizations, Freely Associated
State government agencies, and local and Indian tribal governments to
support coral reef conservation projects in the United States and the
Freely Associated States in the Pacific.  Applicants can submit a grant
application for work covering a period of 12-18 months at federal
funding amounts ranging from $15,000 to a maximum of $50,000;
applications must include a 1:1 match obtained from non federal sources.
The application must be submitted via www.grants.gov. Deadline for
submission of a full application is 11:59 PM EST on  November 10, 2006.
If grants.gov cannot be reasonably used, applications can be sent by
mail, but they must postmarked by November 10, 2006, and they must
include original signed copies of the federal forms. Send to: Andrew
Bruckner, NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program, NOAA Fisheries, Office
of Habitat Conservation (F/HC), 1315 East West Highway, Silver Spring,
MD 20910. ATTN: CRCGP Project Applications.

Projects funded through the GCRCGP support on-the-ground efforts that:
(1) help preserve, sustain and restore the condition of coral reef
ecosystems, (2) promote the wise management and sustainable use of coral
reef resources, (3) increase public knowledge and awareness of coral
reef ecosystems and issues regarding their conservation and (4) develop
sound scientific information on the condition of coral reef ecosystems
and the threats to such ecosystems.  Projects must address 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 (g) Local
action strategy projects. Projects should complement and fill gaps in
state, territorial and commonwealth coral reef programs, emphasize
community-based conservation, or address local action strategy
priorities.   Research activities are eligible only if they directly
relate to management or are listed as a project within a local action
strategy.

The full announcement including format and directions for the
application and all required federal forms can be found on grants.gov.
Select “find funding opportunities” and enter either a key word (e.g.,
coral ), the CDFA number (11.463- Habitat Conservation) or General Coral
Reef Conservation Grants. If you are unable to access the full funding
announcement, you can request a copy from Liz.Fairey at noaa.gov.