The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation has announced the release of the 2019 RFP for the National Coastal Resilience Fund (NCRF), which provides funding to restore, increase, and strengthen natural infrastructure as protection for coastal communities while also enhancing habitat for fish and wildlife.

This year, Congress has again provided funding for Title IX of the National Oceans and Coastal Security Act, allowing grants to be awarded through the fund, which is a public-partnership between NFWF, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Shell Oil, and TransRe.

The fund will invest up to $29 million in projects designed to restore or expand natural features such as coastal marshes and wetlands, dune and beach systems, oyster and coral reefs, mangroves, coastal forests and rivers, and barrier islands that help minimize the impacts of storms, rising sea levels, and other extreme events. Building on the significant coordination and planning that has already been done in many of the nation’s coastal communities and recognizing the need for action, the partnership will focus investments on projects that have been prioritized within existing community or regional resilience plans, with a focus on preliminary project design and site assessment; final project design and permitting; and project implementation and monitoring.

Funding also is available for innovative projects that seek to reshape thinking on how to protect communities in light of projected environmental stressors that may go beyond traditional habitat restoration alone.

To be eligible for funding, projects must be located within coastal areas of the United States, including the Great Lakes states and U.S. territories (Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands).

Pre-proposals are due May 20, 2019.

For additional information and the full Request for Proposals, see the National Coastal Resilience Fund website.