The Gulf of Mexico Community-based Restoration Partnership (CRP) is a regional multi-year partnership that was established in October 2001. The partnership brings together state and federal governmental entities, non-profit organizations, citizens and business in a collaborative effort to provide funding and support for coastal habitat restoration projects. The partnership funds citizen-driven, on-the-ground projects which restore aquatic marine habitats, benefit living marine resources, and foster local stewardship of sites throughout the Gulf of Mexico region and the adjacent Caribbean.

The Gulf of Mexico Community-based Restoration Partnership expanded into the Caribbean in 2006, including the US territory Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. Long-range plans include designating certain areas as having priority for protection/conservation/restoration similar to the GEMS program in the Gulf region. Similar programs already exist, such as the Areas of Particular Concern, which could mesh well into a “GEMS-like” network. The staff of the Gulf of Mexico Foundation continues to work with resource managers, non-profit organizations and stakeholders in the Caribbean territories to develop effective ways to increase restoration efforts in the region.

The CRP network established throughout the Gulf of Mexico has proven very effective over the past seven years (three years in the Caribbean). Built in conjunction with two successful programs, NOAA’s Community-based Restoration Program and the US EPA Gulf of Mexico Program’s Gulf Ecological Management Sites (GEMS), CRP projects in the Gulf are on target to restore about 15,000 acres of coastal habitat and generate about 4.6 million dollars in match funds. To date, in the Gulf, 34 projects have been completed and 10 projects are underway. In the Caribbean, four projects have been completed and four are underway. In total, more than 37,000 volunteer hours have been contributed to these projects.

Gulf of Mexico Foundation - PMB 51, 5403 Everhart - Corpus Christi, TX 78411
(800) 884-4175 toll free - (361) 882-3939 phone - (361) 882-1262 fax
e-mail: info@gulfmex.org     website: gulfmex.org
webmaster: Carrie Robertson

CRP PARTNERS

The Gulf CRP combines the efforts of two federal programs, natural resource agencies from the five gulf states and the Gulf of Mexico Foundation. Agencies from Caribbean countries are included in the Caribbean CRP.

The NOAA Community-Based Restoration Program provides funding for on-the-ground restoration projects, technical expertise in implementing the projects and valuable experience in promoting and managing locally driven restoration activities.

The Gulf of Mexico Program brings to the partnership a collaborative resource management network involving the five gulf states, nonprofit organizations, and academic institutions.

Participants in the Gulf Ecological Management Sites program have worked cooperatively to establish goals to identify 134 ecologically significant habitat areas across the gulf states and to develop a GEMS information network to serve as a tool for disseminating information and for site planning and management.

The Gulf of Mexico Foundation coordinates both the Gulf and Caribbean CRP efforts and administers the grant funding.