Environmental

NOAA Announces $9 Million in Grants to Improve Coastal Community Resilience


Applications accepted for ocean, fisheries programs through July

Resilience means bouncing back. (Credit: NOAA)(Credit: NOAA)

Washington, DC–(ENEWSPF)–May 19, 2015.  Two new NOAA grant programs will help coastal communities and their managers create on-the-ground projects to make them more resilient to the effects of extreme weather events, climate hazards, and changing ocean conditions.

This builds on NOAA’s commitment to provide information, tools, and services to help coastal communities reduce risk and plan for future severe events.

NOAA’s National Ocean Service is supporting the effort with $5 million in competitive grant awards through the 2015 Regional Coastal Resilience Grant Program and NOAA Fisheries is administering the companion $4 million Coastal Ecosystem Resiliency Grants Program.

“Coastal communities around the country are becoming more vulnerable to natural disasters and long-term environmental changes,” said Holly Bamford, Ph.D., assistant NOAA administrator for NOAA’s National Ocean Service performing the duties of the assistant secretary of commerce for conservation and management. “These new grant opportunities will help support local efforts to build resilience of U.S. coastal ecosystems and communities, while finding new and innovative ways to mitigate the threats of severe weather, climate change and changing ocean conditions.”

The National Ocean Service 2015 Regional Coastal Resilience Grant Program will help coastal communities and organizations prepare for and recover from adverse events while adapting to changing environmental, economic, and social conditions. The grants will be awarded to  organizations to plan and implement resilience strategies regionally to reduce current and potential future risks. Proposals are due by July 24.

The NOAA Fisheries’ Coastal Ecosystem Resiliency Grants Program will focus on developing  healthy and sustainable coastal ecosystems through habitat restoration and conservation. The winning proposals will demonstrate socioeconomic benefits associated with restoration of healthy and resilient coastal ecosystems, support healthy fish populations, and demonstrate collaboration among multiple stakeholders. Proposals are due by July 2.   

Each grant proposal may request between $500,000 to $1 million in federal funds for the Regional Coastal Resilience Grant Program and $200,000 to $2 million for the Coastal Ecosystem Resiliency Grants Program. Eligible funding applicants include nonprofit organizations, institutions of higher education, regional organizations, private (for profit) entities, and local, state, and tribal government.

Details on the grant programs can be found at the NOAA Fisheries Coastal Ecosystem Resiliency Grants webpage (http://www.habitat.noaa.gov/funding/coastalresiliency.html) and the NOAA Ocean Service Regional Coastal Resilience Grant Program webpage (http://www.coast.noaa.gov/resilience-grant/). To apply visit http://www.grants.gov/

NOAA’s mission is to understand and predict changes in the Earth’s environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and to conserve and manage our coastal and marine resources. Join us on FacebookTwitter, Instagram and our other social media channels.

Source: noaa.gov


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