Deadline: 1-Feb-21
The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) is seeking applications for its Coral Reef Conservation Fund 2021 to improve the health of coral reef systems. Grants will be awarded to reduce land-based sources of pollution, advance coral reef fisheries management, increase capacity for reef-scale restoration and to support management in their efforts to increase the natural recovery and resiliency of coral reef systems.
The Coral Reef Conservation Fund is a partnership with the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP) and receives additional funding support from the USDA National Resource Conservation Service.
Priority Areas
- Threat Reduction to Priority Reef Sites
- Establish Water Quality Targets;
- Reduce land-based pollution inputs to coral reef tracts;
- Increase fish stocks of key species along priority reef tracts.
- Coral Reef Restoration
- Increase Capacity for Coral Restoration at Scale;
- Support Out-planting Success.
- Increase Management Capacity in Coral Conservation.
Funding Information
- The Coral Conservation Fund offers one grant cycle per year and available funding is expected to be approximately $1,500,000.
- Average grant awards will range from $60,000 to $250,000; however, there is no maximum or minimum requirement.
- Projects should be 12-24 months in duration.
- Matching funds from non-U.S. Federal cash or in-kind sources are required at a 1:1 ratio for all proposed projects.
Geographic Focus
- Projects proposing work in any U.S. coral jurisdictions (American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands, Florida, Guam, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, or the U.S. Virgin Islands) are eligible to apply. Applications for projects in international jurisdictions will be accepted by invitation only.
Eligibility Criteria
- Eligible applicants include non-profit organizations, state government agencies, local governments, municipal governments, Tribal governments and organizations, and educational institutions, including parties within and outside of the United States.
- Ineligible applicants include U.S. Federal government agencies and for-profit entities.
- NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program staffs are available and encouraged to provide general information on programmatic goals and objectives, ongoing coral reef conservation programs/activities, and regional funding priorities; however, NOAA employees are not permitted to assist in the preparation of applications or write letters of support for any application. If NOAA employees will be a collaborator on a project, they may provide a statement verifying that they are collaborating with the project applicant, confirming the degree and nature of the collaboration, and acknowledging the utility of the proposed work. NOAA employee activities, including travel and salaries, are not allowable costs.
Ineligibility Criteria
- Equipment: Applicants are encouraged to rent equipment where possible and cost-effective or use matching funds to make those purchases. NFWF acknowledges, however, that some projects may only be completed using NFWF funds to procure equipment. If this applies to your project, please contact the program staff listed in this RFP to discuss options.
- NFWF funds and matching contributions may not be used to support political advocacy, fundraising, lobbying, litigation, terrorist activities or Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations.
- NFWF funds may not be used to support ongoing efforts to comply with legal requirements, including permit conditions, mitigation and settlement agreements. However, grant funds may be used to support projects that enhance or improve upon existing baseline compliance efforts.
Evaluation Criteria
All proposals will be screened for relevance, accuracy, completeness and compliance with NFWF and funding source policies. Proposals will then be evaluated based on the extent to which they meet the following criteria.
- Program Goals and Priorities – Project contributes to the Program’s overall habitat and species conservation goals and has specific, quantifiable performance metrics to evaluate project success. The project addresses one or more of the program priorities.
- Progress to Management Needs – Scope of work is designed to address management questions and needs and to establish actionable conclusions within the period of performance.
- Technical Merit – Project is technically sound and feasible, and the proposal sets forth a clear, logical and achievable work plan and timeline. The project engages appropriate technical experts throughout project planning, design and implementation to ensure activities are technically-sound and feasible.
- Cost-Effectiveness – Project includes a cost-effective budget that balances performance risk and efficient use of funds. Cost-effectiveness evaluation may include but is not limited to, an assessment of either or both direct and indirect costs in the proposed budget. The federal government has determined that a de minimis 10% indirect rate is an acceptable minimum for organizations without a NICRA, as such NFWF reserves the right to scrutinize ALL proposals with indirect rates above 10% for cost-effectiveness.
- Transferability – Project has potential and plan to transfer lessons learned to other communities and/or to be integrated into government programs and policies.
- Conservation Plan and Context – The project advances an existing conservation plan or strategy.
- Past Success – Applicant has a proven track record of success in implementing conservation practices with specific, measurable results.
- Monitoring – Project includes a plan for monitoring progress during and after the proposed project period (if applicable) to track project success and adaptively address new challenges and opportunities as they arise.
- Long-term Sustainability – Project will be maintained to ensure benefits are achieved and sustained over time. This should include how future funding will be secured to implement necessary long-term monitoring and maintenance activities.
- Partnership – An appropriate partnership exists to implement the project and the project is supported by a strong local partnership that leverages additional funds and will sustain it after the life of the grant. Identify proposed partners, if known (including potential or contemplated sub-awards to third party sub-recipients of the applicant), the roles they will play in implementing the project, and how this project will build new or enhance existing partnerships. (Note: a project partner is any local community, non-profit organization, tribe, and/or local, state, and federal government agency that contributes to the project in a substantial way and is closely involved in the completion of the project.)
For more information, visit https://www.nfwf.org/programs/coral-reefs/coral-reef-conservation-fund-2021-request-proposals