For the first time since its establishment in 2019, Florida’s Coral Reef Restoration & Recovery Initiative has awarded $9.5M in grant funding to academic and private institutions working to safeguard the state’s coral reef system. Extending more than 350 nautical miles, the coral reef provides imperative habitat, protection against storm surges for nearly six million residents, and more than $1B in benefits to Florida’s economy.
The grant funding will aid six awardees – ranging from universities to aquariums and museums – in coral research and recovery, nursery and hatchery expansion, and the rearing of susceptible coral species.
These projects will occur simultaneously with ongoing measures by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) to engage in coral cultivation, outplanting, and monitoring of environmental stressors.
To learn more about FDEP’s efforts to protect one of Florida’s most renowned yet vulnerable ecosystems, see here.
