[Coral-List] Availability of small grants for coral reef conservation

[Andy Bruckner]

The NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program announces the availability of
funding for General Coral Reef Conservation Grants (GCRCGP) for FY08.
Applications must be submitted by 11:59 PM EST, November 1, 2007. 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, as authorized under the Coral Reef
Conservation Act of 2000. 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.

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. Applications must fall within 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 (g) Local
action strategy projects. Research activities are eligible only if they:
1) directly contribute to improved management and demonstrate effective
and prompt mechanisms to disseminate information to resource managers;
or 2) are a listed priority project within a local action strategy.

The full funding announcement and federal forms can be found at
grants.gov. Applications should be submitted via www.grants.gov and must
be received by grants.gov no later than 11:59 PM EST on November 1,
2007.  If grants.gov cannot be reasonably used, applications can be sent
by mail, but they must postmarked by November 1, 2007, 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.

If you need further information please contact me
(andy.bruckner at noaa.gov) or Liz.fairey at noaa.gov