Conservation International

Final Report: A Cooperative Agreement for Developing Sustainable Funding Strategies to Protect Coral Reefs in Hawai'i

2023

Conservation International

"The specific threats and corresponding management interventions for coral reef ecosystems vary across the globe. One common challenge is the difficulty of securing sustainable funding to support the long-term management needed to protect, restore, and maintain the health of coral reef ecosystems. There is no one-size-fits-all solution for sustainable funding strategies or for the application of public and private financial tools to benefit coral reefs. Each opportunity to pursue sustainable funding needs to match not only the regulatory and legal environment, but also the values of the local context and the resource user groups that must support the funding approach and management needs for the long-term. Sustainable funding strategies require coral reef managers to take into consideration the opportunities and challenges presented by a complex regulatory and legal landscape, where many of the threats and stresses to coral reef ecosystems originate. It can be difficult, however, to access necessary expertise and support when new programs or initiatives are being designed or developed. This capacity gap can create missed opportunities for new sustainable funding approaches. NOAAs Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP) Strategic Plan 2018 states that CRCP recognizes the threats to corals are often cumulative with synergistic effects and that consideration of interactions between the different pillars is necessary for successful conservation results. The Strategic Plan contains four main pillars of work: 1. Climate Pillar: Increase Resilience to Climate Change 2. Fisheries Pillar: Improve Fisheries Sustainability 3. Pollution Pillar: Reduce Land-Based Sources 4. Restoration Pillar: Restore Viable Coral Populations This project contributes to the Fisheries Pillar and Pollution Pillar to help build capacity for coral reef fisheries management by helping Hawais coral reef managers develop sustainable funding strategies and tools that recognize and account for the cumulative and synergistic effects of the threats to coral reef ecosystems."

Hawaii, coral reef, sustainable funding, fisheries management

NOS

OCM

FY2023 CRCP Project ID 31294; Project Title: FY20/FY21 NGO Partnership Cooperative Agreements; Principal Investigator: Scot Frew; Grant NA20NOS4820132.

NA20NOS4820132