NOAA and NFWF to award $136 million in coastal resilience grants

NOAA and The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) will award a record amount to support natural infrastructure projects in 29 states and U.S. territories. This investment in coastal resilience will fund projects that will help communities prepare for increasing coastal flooding and more intense storms, while improving thousands of acres of coastal habitats.

WHO

• NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad, Ph.D.
• NFWF Chief Conservation Officer Holly Bamford, Ph.D.
• Ms. Verónica Brieno Rankin, Department of Defense, Keesler Air Force Base
• Maarten Poort, Shell USA, General Manager, Shipping and Maritime Americas
• Chelsey Martin, Washington State Dept of Transportation 
• Cassidy Lejeune, Ducks Unlimited 
• Eric Sparks, Mississippi State University 

WHEN

Tuesday, Dec. 6 at 12:00 p.m. CST

WHERE

In-person: Hilton New Orleans, River Room (Two Poydras Street, New Orleans, LA, 70130)

Virtual option: click here to register - https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_5axFsbohQl67d-DzqLgHOw 

The press conference will take place during the 2022 Coastal and Estuarine Summit offsite link hosted by Restore America’s Estuaries.

BACKGROUND

The National Coastal Resilience Fund offsite link invests in conservation projects that restore or expand natural features such as coastal marshes and wetlands, dune and beach systems, oyster and coral reefs, forests, coastal rivers and floodplains, and barrier islands that minimize the impacts of storms and other naturally occurring events on nearby communities. The National Coastal Resilience Fund is a partnership between NFWF, NOAA, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), Shell USA, TransRe and Oxy, with additional funding this year from the Bezos Earth Fund. NFWF launched the National Coastal Resilience Fund in 2018, in partnership with NOAA and joined initially by Shell USA and TransRe.