NOAA-Funded Toolkit Empowers Citizen-Driven Coastal Actions
Restore America’s Estuaries and NOAA Launch Coastal Restoration Toolkit
Washington, D.C. — Today, Restore America’s Estuaries and NOAA launched Coastal Restoration Toolkit ( restoreyourcoast.org ), a new website that provides resources and project examples for both citizen-driven and organizational coastal restoration projects. Since nearly 50% of the U.S. population live in coastal regions, the potential to support a diverse range of users and inspire much-needed actions is great. Addressing five main topics of concern along coastlines —including region-specific needs and resources—the toolkit empowers homeowners, educators, local government, and resource managers to initiate coastal restoration projects.
“Communities across the nation rely on coastal habitats for countless benefits, from clean drinking water to protection from storms,” said Carrie Robinson, director of the NOAA Fisheries Office of Habitat Conservation. “NOAA is excited to support the Coastal Restoration Toolkit and empower communities to embark on restoration projects that ensure the benefits these habitats provide can continue for generations to come.”
Features and benefits of Coastal Restoration Toolkit include:
● Provides easy-to-follow guidance on planning a restoration project
● Powerful filtering of real project examples by topic or region helps users find what they need
● Funding and permitting resources address financial and technical barriers to actions
● Topics include flooding, coastal erosion, water quality, invasive species, and wildlife habitats.
Coastal Restoration Toolkit is by the coastal community, for the coastal community. As such, Restore America’s Estuaries is encouraging the sharing of restoration projects on social media by using the hashtag #RestoreYourCoast and tagging @RAEstuaries on Instagram. “We are excited about the impact of the Toolkit as it’s used among our Nation’s coastal communities.” says Daniel Hayden, President & CEO at Restore America’s Estuaries. “The Toolkit is a launching point for solutions to coastal restoration at the local level by and for coastal communities.”
For more information on Coastal Restoration Toolkit, visit restoreyourcoast.org.
Restore America’s Estuaries (RAE) is a national nonprofit organization established in 1995. RAE leads a national alliance of ten coastal conservation organizations across the country dedicated to the protection and restoration of bays and estuaries as essential resources for our nation.
NOAA’s mission is to understand and predict changes in the Earth’s environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and to conserve and manage our coastal and marine resources. Join us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and our other social media channels.
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