Coral reef restoration project, REEFrame, recently announced it has been recommended for a $9 million grant by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Office of Habitat Conservation.
"NOAA is excited to be supporting our partners' innovative efforts to restore coral reefs off the coast of Waikiki Beach," Carrie Selberg Robinson, director of NOAA's Office of Habitat Conservation, said in a statement. "Coral reefs provide countless benefits for fisheries and coastal communities, and reef restoration projects are crucial for preserving the future of these important habitats."
The project consists of building two permanent coral nurseries on a bare rock seafloor about three-quarters of a mile off of Waikiki Beach. The nurseries are each slated to be about 100 feet long, 100 feet wide, and six feet tall. They are intended to serve two purposes: temporarily attach living corals dislodged by disturbances until they can later be transplanted to areas lacking coral, and attract fish that can keep reef surfaces clean so the nurseries can gradually be colonized by naturally settling coral larvae, according to project organizers.
REEFrame — which will be constructed between summer 2023 and mid-2026 — is a partnership between the University of Hawaii at Manoa, Conservation International, the Hawaii Division of Aquatic Resources, Natrx, Oceanit and ClimbHI. Workforce development nonprofit ClimbHI will connect project organizers with schools statewide to provide opportunities for student and educator involvement, and the Hawaii DAR will facilitate the project's permitting process. Project organizers will also consult with local and cultural organizations during the design phase of the project, according to the announcement.
The initiative is one of nearly 150 projects recommended to receive a total of $562 million as part of the Biden-Harris Administration's Investing in America agenda. The awards are made under NOAA's Climate-Ready Coasts Initiative and funded by the Biden-Harris Administration's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, with support by the Inflation Reduction Act, according to REEFrame.
