[Coral-List] New Funding Announcement for the NOAA Ruth Gates Coral Restoration Innovation Grant Competition

[Liz Fairey - NOAA Federal]

The NOAA announces the NOAA Ruth Gates Coral Restoration Innovation Grant
competition for Fiscal Year 2022

Who: This competitive program provides cooperative agreements to
institutions of higher education; non-profits; commercial (for profit)
organizations; and U.S. territories and state, local, and Native American
tribal governments.

Where: The aim of the NOAA Ruth Gates Coral Restoration Innovation Grant
competition is to improve the success of shallow water (<30 m [<100 ft]
depth) coral reef restoration in an increasingly variable climate.
Applicants must be U.S. based, but may have international partners. All
U.S. funded in-water activities must take place within the U.S. coral
jurisdictions: American Samoa, the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana
Islands, Florida, Guam, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, or the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Program Priorities: The principal objective of this grant program is to
move coral intervention science towards field application in order to
increase coral survivorship and promote resilient, genetically diverse, and
reproductively viable coral populations. Proposed projects must align with
goals and objectives of the CRCP Strategic Plan
<https://www.coris.noaa.gov/activities/strategic_plan2018/> and/or action
items in the NOAA Action Plan on Coral Interventions
<https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/resource/document/noaa-action-plan-coral-interventions>.
NOAA has identified the following two priority areas for this funding
announcement: 1.) Research, develop, and advance the application of
innovative intervention techniques that support the persistence of corals
and improve coral survivorship by enhancing coral resilience to threats,
such as ocean warming or coral disease; and  2.) Research and develop
methods to improve the survivorship of post larval propagation.

Funding Amount: NOAA anticipates typical federal funding for awards will
range from $100,000-$250,000/year for a total $100,000 to $750,000 over one
to three years. NOAA will not accept proposals with a federal funding
request of less than $100,000 or more than $1,000,000 total over three
years. Applicants must provide a 1:1 match of non-Federal funds or must
submit a request to NOAA to waive the matching requirement if the applicant
can demonstrate 1) no reasonable means are available through which an
applicant can meet the matching requirement, and 2) the probable benefit of
the project outweighs the public interest in such matching requirement.

How: Applicants must apply through www.grants.gov.

When: Applications need to be submitted through www.grants.gov by 11:59 PM
Eastern Time on February 23, 2022. Due to the COVID-19 situation and NOAA
staff telework status, paper format applications delivered at our physical
address will NOT be accepted for this FY 22-24 application cycle.

Interested applicants may obtain the full Federal Funding Opportunity
announcement by visiting www.grants.gov, clicking on the “Search Grants,
tab” and searching by funding opportunity number
(NOAA-NMFS-HCPO-2022-2007121) or by CFDA number (11.482).

If you need further information, please contact me (liz.fairey at noaa.gov).--
Liz Fairey (she/her)
NMFS Office of Habitat Conservation
NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program
1315 East West Hwy
Silver Spring, MD 20910
301-427-8632