[Coral-List] Caribbean Restoration Funding Available - Request for Preproposals
Paige Rothenberger
paige.rothenberger at viczmp.com
Fri Aug 19 09:45:59 EDT 2005
<>Apologies for cross postings
The full Request for Preproposals has been published at:
http://www.gulfmex.org , or
http://www.gulfmex.org/documents/carib/RFPreproposal.doc<>
Gulf of Mexico Community-based Restoration Partnership
Caribbean Expansion
Year I
Request for Preproposals
(Submittal Date: Sept. 30, 2005) <>
The Gulf of Mexico Community-based Restoration Partnership (GCRP) is
expanding community-based restoration efforts into the U.S. Territories
of the Caribbean region. The GCRP invites preproposals for its first
round of citizen-driven habitat restoration projects in the Caribbean.
The partnership is seeking to fund on-the-ground activities to restore
marine, estuarine, and riparian habitats to benefit living marine
resources and to provide educational and social benefits by
significantly involving the community. U.S. Territories of the
Caribbean are Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands - St. Thomas, St.
John, and St. Croix. <>
The GCRP is a multi-year, regional partnership between the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Community-based
Restoration Program (CRP) and the United States Environmental Protection
Agency (USEPA) Gulf of Mexico Program - Gulf Ecological Management Sites
(GEMS) Program. The purpose of this partnership is to strengthen the
conservation efforts of the CRP and GEMS Program by supporting
on-the-ground habitat restoration benefiting living marine resources and
fostering local stewardship of ecologically significant areas.
Project Specifications:
Preproposals will be accepted for projects within the U.S. Territories
of the Caribbean that involve restoration of coastal habitats.
<>These projects must:
· Result in on-the-ground habitat restoration;
· Provide significant, long-term benefit to "NOAA Trust Resources"
(see following section);
· Involve the local community through an educational or volunteer
component tied to the restoration activities;
· Provide a 1:1 nonfederal match to the partnership cash
contribution (see "Funding" section); and
· Include a mechanism to monitor and evaluate the success/failure of
the project (see "Minimum Monitoring/Evaluating Requirements Section).
Funding will be allocated for one year for all projects. The preferred
project duration is one year, beginning on January 1, 2006. However,
projects of shorter duration and projects taking up to 18 months for
completion, but only requiring one year of funding, will also be considered.
Funding may be provided for studies, workshops, or other such work
elements which directly support actual and measurable habitat
improvement and/or public education about the project. Recognizing that
restoration is a multi-faceted effort, funding for projects involving
limited pre-implementation activities, such as engineering and design
and short-term baseline studies, will be considered. However, funding
for such activities will be limited to 15% of the total project cost.
Projects that are solely engineering and design projects will be
considered, but limited to a total of $25,000. On-the-ground
restoration projects will be given priority. Deliverables for
engineering and design projects are to include, but are not limited to,
engineering designs/plans, reports summarizing the biologic and
hydrologic data collected in the construction area, a draft of completed
permit applications, and synthesized comments from those who review the
engineering design.
Preproposals emphasizing a single component, such as only outreach or
program coordination are discouraged, as are applications that propose
to expand an organization's day-to-day activities, or that primarily
seek support for administration, salaries, overhead, and/or travel.
NOAA Trust Resources:
NOAA trust resources and the habitats that support them serve as the
focus of this partnership. Applicants must demonstrate that habitat
restoration will result in a benefit to NOAA trust resources. These
include living marine resources and their habitats such as:
Commercial and recreational fishery resources (marine fish and shellfish
and their habitats);
Anadromous species (fish, such as salmon and striped bass, that spawn in
freshwater and then migrate to the sea);
Endangered and threatened marine species and their habitats;
Marine mammals, turtles, and their habitats;
Marshes, mangroves, seagrass beds, coral reefs, and other coastal
habitats; and
Resources associated with National Marine Sanctuaries and National
Estuarine Research Reserves.
<>Funding:
Preproposals will be evaluated and selected by the GCRP Steering
Committee, which consists of Gulf of Mexico Foundation staff,
scientists/natural resource managers, and NOAA, USEPA, and US Fish and
Wildlife Service technical staff. Approximately $100,000 is available
for funding habitat restoration projects in the Caribbean. Project
funding levels will typically fall within the range of $25,000-$50,000.
All projects must provide a 1:1 match of the grant amount. Matching
funds cannot be federal dollars. Matching funds can be cash and/or
in-kind, including one or more of the following:
· In-kind donations, such as of materials and earthmoving equipment;
· Technical assistance for restoration site selection, design, and
evaluation;
· Land;
· Workforce support or other in-kind services, especially those that
promote citizens' hands-on involvement;
· Local stewardship and monitoring to sustain and evaluate the
success of the restoration over time.
<>Additional federal funding or other contributions may be included in
the project description to demonstrate that the project is part of a
larger restoration effort. However, such federal contributions may not
serve as matching contribution to the GCRP funds.
Minimum Monitoring/Evaluating Requirements:
Projects funded by the GCRP are required to evaluate the success of the
habitat restoration efforts. The purpose of the monitoring is to detect
early signs that the restoration is or is not on track, to gauge how
well a restoration site is functioning, and to evaluate the ecological
health of specific coastal habitats both before and after completion.
NOAA has established standard monitoring protocols to guide the
evaluation of habitat restoration projects. A manual, "Science-Based
Restoration Monitoring of Coastal Habitats," was developed in accordance
with the Estuary Restoration Act of 2000, Title I of the Estuaries and
Clean Waters Act of 2000. This guidance manual provides technical
assistance, outlines necessary steps and provides tools for the
development and implementation of sound scientific monitoring of coastal
restoration projects. Appendix A outlines the framework for preparing
an effective monitoring plan. Please note that this monitoring plan is
not required for the preproposal submission, but will be required for
all GCRP applicants invited to submit full proposals.
<>Preproposal Requirements:
Preproposals must be received by close of business 30 September 2005 and
should not exceed two (2) pages in length. Preproposals must include
all of the information requested and be formatted as shown in Attachment
A. Projects that meet the minimum partnership requirements will be
invited to submit full proposals (approximate submittal date: November
15, 2005) that will more fully describe the activities to be
accomplished and will include a specific timeline, a monitoring plan,
and a detailed budget. Applicants invited to submit full proposals will
be required to obtain a letter of support from an appropriate
governmental agency. Final projects will be selected for funding
following review by the GCRP Steering Committee. <>
Preproposal Submission:
Applicants must mail one hard copy AND one electronic copy (MS Word
compatible with photos as low resolution .jpg files, via e-mail or CD)
to:<>Gulf of Mexico Foundation
Attention: Caribbean CRP
PMB 51, 5403 Everhart Rd.
Corpus Christi, Texas, USA 78411
e-mail: info at gulfmex.org
<http://www.gulfmex.org/../../../../Local%20Settings/Local%20Settings/Temporary%20Internet%20Files/YEAR%20V/info@gulfmex.org>
For assistance, please contact:
Quenton Dokken, PhD., Executive Director, Gulf of Mexico Foundation or
<>Kendal Keyes, Project Coordinator, Gulf of Mexico Foundation at (361)
882-3939 or info at gulfmex.org
<http://www.gulfmex.org/../../../../Local%20Settings/Local%20Settings/Temporary%20Internet%20Files/YEAR%20V/info@gulfmex.org>
Additional information sources:
Gulf of Mexico Foundation: http://www.gulfmex.org <http://www.gulfmex.org/>
NOAA Restoration Center Community-based Restoration Program:
<>http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/habitat/restoration/projects_programs/crp/index.html
USEPA Gulf of Mexico Program Gulf Ecological Management Sites Program:
http://www.epa.gov/gmpo/gem2.html
Paige Rothenberger
Marine Resource Ecologist
VI Dept. of Planning and Natural Resources
Division of Coastal Zone Management
45 Mars Hill
Frederiksted, VI 00840
(340) 773-1082
More information about the Coral-List
mailing list