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CNMI to receive $165K grant for coral reef protection
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Posted on Oct 21 2004
The CNMI will receive over $165,000 in grant funds from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as part of national efforts to restore coral reef ecosystems.
The monies are part of the $2.4 million in multiple grants to conservation groups and local governments in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, which comes from the NOAA’s Coral Reef Conservation Fund.
In a media statement from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, the agency said that the CNMI’s Marianas Resource Conservation and Development Council would receive $69,660 in federal funds and $96,000 in matching funds.
It said the foundation, which manages the conservation fund, and the NOAA have awarded over $9 million in federal and non-federal matching funds for 11 coral conservation projects in 20 countries, five U.S. trusts and territories, and four U.S. states since the enactment of the Coral Reef Conservation Act of 2000 in the United States.
“Healthy coral reefs can provide food, jobs and income for millions of people around the world, and provide billions of dollars to U.S. communities through tourism and recreation. However, many reefs are now being seriously degraded by overuse, pollution and other factors,” said retired Navy Vice Admiral Conrad C. Lautenbacher, NOAA administrator and Commerce undersecretary.
“These projects will help local communities protect our valuable coral reefs and the economies that depend on them,” he added.
The coral reef conservation fund assists projects that provide solutions to localized threats to coral reefs and increasing community awareness and coral reef protection.
The NOAA is also one of the lead agencies in the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force, established by then President Clinton in 1998.
