[Coral-List] NOAA International Coral Conservation Grants

[Louis Florit]

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.