[Coral-List] Announcement: NOAA/NFWF AWARD $3 MILLION IN CORAL REEF CONSERVATION GRANTS

[Roger B Griffis]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 29, 2005

Contacts:
Ben Sherman, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
(301) 713-3066	
Elizebeth Madison, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (202) 857-5677

NOAA AND NATIONAL FISH AND WILDLIFE FOUNDATION AWARD $3 MILLION FOR
CORAL REEF CONSERVATION GRANTS

	The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (Foundation) and the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced today the funding of 31
grants - with a total value of more than $3 million - through the
jointly managed Coral Reef Conservation Fund (Coral Fund).  The grants
will go to conservation organizations and local governments in the
Pacific and Atlantic oceans, Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea to
help restore damaged coral reef ecosystems and to prevent further
negative impacts to reefs.

	Coral Fund projects build public-private partnerships, increase
community awareness and provide solutions to localized threats to coral
reefs and associated habitats.  Special emphasis is placed on projects
demonstrating a hands-on, measurable approach to reducing land-based
pollution, improving the management of coral reef protected areas or
installing mooring buoys to protect reefs from anchor damage.

	The 31 grants are awarded to projects in 12 countries, one U.S.
territory, and two freely associated states.  The awards include $1.1
million in federal funds leveraged by an additional $2.1 million in
matching contributions for a total of $3.2 million in on-the-ground
projects.  New funding partners in 2005 include the U.S. Department of
Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Hawai'i
Coastal Restoration Fund, a mitigation fund partnership with the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service.

	"From the Florida Keys to the western Pacific Islands, these projects
will help local communities protect their valuable coral reefs and the
economies that depend on them," said retired Navy Vice Admiral Conrad C.
Lautenbacher, Jr., Ph.D.,  under secretary of commerce and NOAA
administrator.  "NOAA is pleased to continue this partnership with the
Foundation, federal agencies, and many other partners to advance
cooperative conservation of coral reefs in the U.S. and
internationally."

	"We're pleased to support projects that address coral reef conservation
across the globe for a fifth year," said Foundation Executive Director
John Berry.  "These grants are designed to identify and address the
greatest threats to these very important and fragile marine habitats.
Working at the community level, such as through Hawaii "makai watch"
volunteers, local citizens will be monitoring reefs to reduce
degradation along the state's coastlines."

	The Coral Reef Conservation Fund was created to assist NOAA in
implementing the Coral Reef Conservation Act of 2000 and is managed by
the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation in partnership with the NOAA
Coral Reef Conservation Program.  To date, the Foundation has awarded
more than $12 million in federal and non-federal matching funds for 140
coral conservation projects in 28 countries, seven U.S. trusts or
territories, and four U.S. states.

	The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation will be accepting Coral Reef
Conservation Fund proposals for 2006 beginning in November 2005.  The
three priorities identified for 2006 funding include: supporting
hands-on, measurable watershed approaches to reducing land-based
pollution and sedimentation to adjacent coral reefs and associated
habitats; funding efforts to measure and improve the management of coral
reef protected areas; and establishing mooring buoys as part of the
"Anchors Away!" partnership, a project of the White Water to Blue Water
Initiative.  Coral Reef Conservation Fund application directions and
forms will be available online at: www.nfwf.org/programs/coral.cfm.  For
more information about the program, contact Leslie Ricketts via e-mail
at leslie.ricketts at nfwf.org.

	NOAA's Coral Reef Conservation Program is a partnership between the
NOAA line offices working on coral reef issues, including the National
Ocean Service, the National Marine Fisheries Service, the Office of
Oceanic and Atmospheric Research and the National Environmental
Satellite, Data and Information Service.  The program supports effective
management and sound science to preserve, sustain and restore valuable
coral reef ecosystems.

	Each year NOAA, an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce, awards
approximately $900 million in grants to members of the academic,
scientific and business communities to assist the agency in fulfilling
its mission to study the Earth's natural systems in order to predict
environmental change, manage ocean resources, protect life and property,
and provide decision makers with reliable scientific information. 
NOAA's goals and programs reflect a commitment to these basic
responsibilities of science and service to the nation for the past 35
years.

	The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation is a nonprofit organization
established by Congress in 1984 and dedicated to the conservation of
fish, wildlife and plants, and the habitat on which they depend.  The
Foundation creates partnerships between the public and private sectors
to strategically invest in conservation and the sustainable use of
natural resources.  The Foundation distributed 709 grants in 2004 and
has leveraged over $300 million in federal funds since its
establishment, for a total of more than $918 million in on-the-ground
and in-the-water conservation.

On the Web:
NOAA: http://www.noaa.gov/
NFWF: http://nfwf.org/
NOAA's Coral Reef Conservation Program: http://www.coralreef.noaa.gov/
U.S. Coral Reef Task Force: http://www.coralreef.gov/

2005 grant recipients:

GULF OF MEXICO/CARIBBEAN SEA

Bahamas & Belize, Perry Institute for Marine Science, Evaluating Coral
Reef Marine Protected Areas, $46,100 federal funds, $81,500 matching
funds

Belize, Toledo Institute for Development and Environment, Enhanced
Conservation for Port Honduras, $26,335 federal funds, $192,538 matching
funds

Belize, National Parks Conservation Association's Center for Park
Management, Business Plans for Protected Areas in Belize, $25,000
federal funds, $25,000 matching funds

Belize, Belize Fisheries Department, National Marine Reserve Mooring
Buoy Program, $48,000 federal funds, $50,500 matching funds

Central America, Wildlife Conservation Society, Vulnerability Assessment
of Sharks and Rays, $45,290 federal funds, $67,355 matching funds 

Dominican Republic, Secretaria de Estado de Medio Ambiente, Management
of Coral Reef at Puerto Viejo, $13,763 federal funds, $93,658 matching
funds

Dominican Republic, Ocean Research and Education Foundation, Expanded
Management Plan for a Coral Reef, $42,395 federal funds, $42,395
matching funds

Florida, USA, City of Key West, Key West Stormwater Nutrient Removal,
$50,000 federal funds, $50,000 matching funds

Grenada, West Indies, WINDREF, Marine Protected Area Management in
Grenada, $25,000 federal funds, $33,867 matching funds

Grenadines, CERMES University of the West Indies, Coral Conservation
Awareness in Grenadines, $19,800 federal funds, $22,036 matching funds

Guatemala, Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide (E-LAW) US, Building
Environmental Compliance, $34,000 federal funds, $34,000 matching funds

Haiti, Fondation pour la Protection de la Biodiversite Marine
(FoProBiM), Coral Reef Conservation in Haiti, $28,600 federal funds,
$40,000 matching funds

Jamaica, Portland Environment Protection Association, Port Antonio
Marine Park Water Quality Improvement, $29,343 federal funds, $31,586
matching funds

Jamaica, Caribbean Coastal Area Management Foundation, Evaluation of
Fish Nurseries of the Portland Bight, $18,455 federal funds, $19,450
matching funds

Mexico, Amigos Isla Contoy and Comunidad y Naturaleza A.C., Sustainable
Use and Governance in Mesoamerica, $30,000 federal funds, $50,000
matching funds

Mexico, Reserva de la Biosfera Banco Chinchorro (CONANP), Mooring Buoy
Program for Banco Chinchorro, $57,285 federal funds, $172,150 matching
funds

Mexico, Belize, Guatemala and Honduras, United Nations University
International Network for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH),
Monitoring Recruitment in Protected Areas, $30,000 federal funds,
$82,000 matching funds

Mexico, Centro Ukana I Akumal A.C., Implementing a Coral Reef
Conservation Program, $39,507 federal funds, $47,165 matching funds

Nicaragua, World Wildlife Fund, Community-Based Marine Management,
$50,000 federal funds, $50,000 matching funds

Nicaragua, University of the Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua, Coral Reef
Conservation and Education, $12,685 federal funds, $26,100 matching
funds

U.S. Virgin Islands, Urban Arts Institute at Mass College of Art, Marine
Park Public Awareness Campaign (USVI/USA), $40,000 federal funds,
$100,000 matching funds

U.S. and Wider Caribbean area, Reef Environmental Education Foundation
(REEF), REEF Field Station Program, $18,500 federal funds, $22,000
matching funds
	
PACIFIC OCEAN

Hawaii, Hawai'i Wildlife Fund, Maui Makai Watch, $25,000 federal funds,
$25,000 non-federal funds, $66,673 matching funds

Hawaii, The Community Conservation Network, Makai Watch: Community
Marine Conservation, $25,000 federal funds, $25,000 non-federal funds,
$191,000 matching funds

Hawaii, Hanalei Watershed Hui, Pollution Mitigation in Hanalei Bay,
$49,936 federal funds, $88,380 matching funds

Mexico, Pronatura Noroeste, Conservation of Coral Reefs in Gulf of
California, $60,000 federal funds, $84,903 matching funds

Micronesia, Conservation Society of Pohnpei FSM, Coral Reef Pollution
and Sedimentation Reduction, $49,930 federal funds, $114,349 matching
funds

Micronesia, Kosrae Conservation and Safety Organization, Protecting
Kosrae's Marine Biodiversity, $28,000 federal funds, $28,200 matching
funds

Micronesia, Yap Community Action Agency, Mangrove and Sea Grass Public
Awareness, $35,509 federal funds, $60,000 matching funds

Papua New Guinea, Wildlife Conservation Society, Coral Harvesting for
Betel Nut Lime Production, $20,000 federal funds, $40,200 matching funds 

Republic of Palau, Division of Fish and Wildlife Protection, Coral Reef
Conservation in Palau, $41,152 federal funds, $41,152 matching funds