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