Coral Reef Fund Announces $3.5 Million in Grants

Twenty-nine conservation programs and organizations around the world were selected this week to receive a total of $3.5 million in grant funding to help protect and preserve coral reefs, according to news from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Since its creation in 2000, the Coral Reef Conservation Fund has distributed more than $19 million in matching funds for 194 conservation projects in 35 countries. The fund is managed by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation in partnership with NOAA's Coral Reef Conservation Program.

"Healthy coral reefs provide the United States and thousands of communities around the world with food, jobs, shoreline protection, recreation and income worth billions of dollars each year," said Conrad C. Lautenbacher Jr., a retired Navy Vice Admiral, undersecretary of commerce and NOAA administrator. "However, many reefs are now seriously degraded. These grants will help communities from the Caribbean to Micronesia protect and restore valuable coral reefs and the economies that depend on them."

Coral Fund grants encourage hands-on projects to reduce polluted runoff from land, improve the management of protected reefs, prevent anchor damage with the installation of mooring buoys and build public awareness of the importance of coral reefs. This year's awards, supported by $1.3 million in federal funds and $2.2 million in matching contributions, will help finance projects in 11 countries, two U.S. territories and three U.S. freely associated states.

"These grants are designed to identify and address the greatest threats to these very important and fragile marine habitats, and develop measurable conservation outcomes in order to track their performance," said Jeff Trandahl, executive director of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. "In addition, several projects will be supporting activities for the International Year of the Reef 2008 to raise awareness of the many threats facing coral reefs."