Department of Commerce

Description

The NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Grant Program (Grant Program), as authorized under the Coral Reef Conservation Act of 2000, provides matching grants of financial assistance for international coral reef conservation cooperative agreements. The Grant Program solicits proposals that will support the newly published NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program International Strategy 2010-2015 (International Strategy). This constitutes a major strategic shift from support provided in previous years. The International Strategy focuses on supporting existing regional efforts in four priority regions based on their interconnections with U.S. reef ecosystems and existing initiatives and partnerships. Three of these four priority regions will be considered under this Funding Opportunity: the Wider Caribbean, Micronesia, and the Southwest Pacific. Applicants should have a working relationship and demonstrated experience working with the local government authorities that manage the marine areas addressed. Applicants for this funding opportunity must have experience conducting regional coordination work in two or more countries (except independent Samoa--see Section I.B of the FFO announcement) within a priority region (as described below) with other local partners and the local/regional/national government(s) with jurisdiction over the marine sites listed in the pre- and final applications. Priority will be considered for those competitive pre- and final applications that propose working effectively in more than two countries (except independent Samoa--see Section I.B of the FFO announcement). Applicants must describe their past experience in the selected sites or countries and whether there are any environmental conservation agreements in place with the local partners and government authorities. Pre- and final applications that propose work across multiple regions (for ex., Micronesia and the Southwest Pacific) are eligible to apply; in these instances, the application must demonstrate that the two or more countries in which work is proposed can be grouped legitimately based on existing regional networks, agreements, and/or existing coral reef conservation activities. Specific country eligibility is limited to: 1. The Non-US countries and territories of the Wider Caribbean as defined by the Cartagena Convention: Antigua & Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad & Tobago, Venezuela, France Caribbean Territories, Netherlands Caribbean Territories and United Kingdom Caribbean Territories 2. The Non-US Micronesia region including independent countries under compacts of free association with the United States: the Republic of the Marshall Islands; the Republic of Palau; and the Federated States of Micronesia as well as the independent nations of Kiribati and Nauru. 3. The Southwest Pacific: independent Samoa, Fiji, Vanuatu, Tonga and Tuvalu.

Who can apply

• Others

Contact

Steve Drescher <br/>Policy Advisor <br/>
steve.j.drescher@noaa.gov