Coastal Resources Center
University of Rhode Island
Narragansett, RI 02882
USA
The Rhode Island Ports & Harbors Inventory is funded by the RI Statewide Planning Challenge Grant Program. The project will provide new statewide data that will inform the waterborne-freight, marine transportation and land use planning decision-making process.
The Coastal Resources Center\'s Institute in Coastal Management is a three week-long, intensive training course for a diverse range of individuals who share the common goal of trying to improve the management of the world\'s coasts.
CRC conducted a desktop study of the US Northeast\'s management of coastal ecosystems and natural hazards. A literature review, bibliography and analysis of the US Northeast\'s resilience was conducted on the behalf of the US NOAA Coastal Services Center.
In response to the December 2004 tsunami disaster, the U.S. Agency for International Development has funded a two-year program to provide technical assistance to support the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning System (IOTWS). The University of Rhode Island is part of a consortium of US Government agencies, providing technical assistance to the region. The overall goal of the US-IOTWS program is to create a unified "end-to-end" early warning system, which provides information at all stages of an impending hazard from an ocean buoy to the community at risk. The approach will be multi-hazard; it will simultaneously address tsunamis and a number of other critical coastal threats such as cyclones, sea swells, floods, and earthquakes.
The Post-Tsunami Sustainable Coastal Livelihoods (SCL) project, supported by the USAID Regional Development Mission/Asia, was initiated in March 2005 and has a 30 month time horizon with an end date of September 30, 2007. SCL is a demonstration initiative that helps coastal communities of Southern Thailand affected by the tsunami rehabilitate livelihoods, become more resilient to future natural disasters, and adopt livelihood practices that use natural resources more sustainably. The project also has a regional learning component and supports regional learning exchanges, workshops, and training.
This effort develops recommendations to the Providence Harbor Special Area Management Plan so that it better addresses current urban waterfront development. It also initiates a Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Program (CELCP) for the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council that identifies key coastal conservation needs and opportunities.
Do you know if your marine protected area (MPA) is acheiving its goals and objectives? Do you have monitoring information to better understand the management issues and adapt your strategy? This NOAA funded project tests a monitoring method in Southeast Asia that looks at governance and biophysical indicators.
The EcoCostas-CRC network brings together the leaders of mature coastal management initiatives in Latin America in a network that promotes documentation of experience and the exchange of knowledge and skills among project groups.
This project demonstrates how participatory governance on the technically challenging issues of changed freshwater inflows can be informed by, and its likelihood of success advanced by, the application of cost-effective, science-based methods and information designed to forecast the potential outcomes of this form of ecosystem change.
The PEACE (Population, gender Equity, and AIDS in Coastal Environments) project builds on existing ICM programs and projects in Tanzania and integrates the crosscutting themes of HIV/AIDS, population, and gender into coastal conservation and resource management initiatives in the coastal districts of Pangani and Bagamoyo.
The Bridging the Large Marine Ecosystem Governance Gap project addressed the need for improved governance of marine issues that cross international borders. CRC, in partnership with URI professors and NOAA, designed a handbook and facilitated a workshop of senior level officials from less developed countries involved with Large Marine Ecosystem (LME) projects. This project takes a significant step forward to enhancing the governance and socio-economic elements of LMEs. With continued progress it is hoped that LMEs will have the capacity for sustained implementation when donor aid ends.
The Sea Grant Coastal Community Development Program realizes a significant step-up in the Rhode Island Sea Grant Program's engagement at the coastal community decision-making level by providing the enhanced science-based support needed to balance environmental, social, and economic considerations.
As part of the Assessment of User Needs for Storm Surge Information project, The Coastal Resources Center (CRC) facilitated two workshops in coordination with NOAA Coastal Services Center (CSC) and assisted in developing and conducting a web based needs assessment. Virginia Lee, Senior Coastal Manager for US programs at CRC, chaired the NOAA panel on accessing user needs for information on storm surge.
The Coastal Resources Center (CRC) has acted as a point of contact for the Rhode Island competitive State of Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency pre-disaster mitigation grants, working directly with city and town government to develop strong mitigation activities and submit applications through Federal Emergency Management Agency e-grants system.
Locally appropriate and feasible good practices for shrimp mariculture and recreational marina facility siting and operation are specified through the full engagement of the industries and public officials in the Gulf of California region in Mexico.
The Tanzania Coastal Management Partnership (TCMP) works with the existing network of Integrated Coastal Management (ICM) programs and practitioners to facilitate a participatory, transparent process to unite government and communities, science and management, sectoral and public interests, in order to wisely conserve and develop the nation's coastal ecosystems and resources.
This project provides an assessment of priority coastal land conservation needs and clear guidance for nominating and selecting coastal conservation projects within Rhode Island.
This project supports the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC) and the cities of Warwick and East Greenwich, government agencies, and community organizations as they cooperate in order to prepare the Greenwich Bay Special Area Management Plan.
The Coastal Community Development Program II goal is to build capacity of local non-governmental organizations in the Balikpapan Bay area of East Kalimantan Indonesia to implement community-based coastal management and livelihood development initiatives. These NGOs are then implementing livelihood schemes for a number of community groups in several coastal villages. Community projects emphasize sustainable coastal resource dependent livelihoods with associated micro-credit schemes as well as village level resource management plans.
This initiative targets production of marine invertebrates on small island farms in the Pacific region, works to improve farm efficiency, increases knowledge of farm technologies and economics and builds institutional capacity to sustain these goals. The island of Hawaii (“the Big Island”), Pohnpei Island, Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) and the atoll of Majuro, Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) are the focus of aquaculture development.
This project advances coastal management program in Fiji by demonstrating how ICM can be implemented effectively to address Fiji's pressing national coastal management issues. Key activities develop an action strategy for a key coastal region: the Coral Coast; establish a national group to advise and learn from Fiji's Coral Coast demonstration site and build capacity required in Fiji through training, mentoring and infield staff support.
CRC’s Women in Leadership Development (WILD) initiative brings together a diverse group of academics, scientists, field practitioners, advocates, and donors with a common interest in the challenges of and solutions for better mainstreaming gender and population considerations into coastal programs. They take part in a learning network aiming to test various tools to mainstream gender and demographics into the design and implementation of coastal and marine conservation programs.
Sustainable resource use and social development in the marine and coastal environment of Latin America is fostered by exploring how to adapt theU.S. Sea Grant model to the context of Latin America, and resources are sought to implement pilot programs in the Gulf of Fonseca and the Gulf of Guayaquil that are composed of the core Sea Grant elements - research, extension and education and develop a network of Sea Grant institutions in Latin America.
The coastal community development project helps strengthen the capacity of Save The Balikpapan Bay Foundation (Indonesia) and other local NGOs to contribute to management of local coastal resources and at the same time implement actions on-the-ground which support coastal community development and resources management.
Reef Check provides information on the global status of coral reefs by coordinating data collection from volunteer survey teams. A web-based system is developed that allows a user to input Reef Check survey data and receive expert advice on the health of the reef surveyed, possible causes and actions that may be taken to achieve specific conservation goals.
Reef Check is the standardized global coral reef monitoring program operating more than 50 countries worldwide. The three main objectives of this project are: Reef Education for Indonesian school children, Reef Check training for volunteer Thai and Indonesian community leaders, and establishing a coral reef monitoring and management training center at Phuket Marine Biological Laboratory in Thailand.
The Coastal Resources Management Project is an eighteen year partnership (1985 - 2003) between the CRC and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The CRMP enables the CRC to work with selected nations including Ecuador, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Mexico, Indonesia, Kenya and Tanzania to help them do a better job of allocating, using, developing and conserving their coastal resources in order to improve the well-being of the people of each place, the development of the nation, and the health and quality of the environment.
Biodiversity conservation in Mexico is supported by developing the capacity of non-governmental groups and local universities to lead and build public support for coastal management at the state level for critical coastal ecosystems, as well as deepen their capacity to work towards tangible conservation results with coastal communities. The program operates in two coastal regions—the southern portion of the state of Quintana Roo and the Gulf of California.
Marine conservation is fostered in Indonesia by developing local capacity in North Sulawesi Province to establish and successfully implement community-based marine sanctuaries.
Proyek Pesisir works closely with resource users, communities, industry, non-governmental organizations, academic groups, and all levels of government in Indonesia. It operates at both the local level—in various field sites in North Sulawesi, Lampung, East Kalimantan and Papua Provinces — and nationally to address the country's vast need for improved coastal resources management. Proyek Pesisir plays a leadership role in the development of good practices and coastal management models at the community and provincial scale, and in development of national policy.
The project demonstrates how to formulate and implement effective, participatory and sustainable strategies for addressing representative coastal management issues in Kenya. Pilot sites are selected to tangibly demonstrate the process and benefits of ICM; moving from planning to implementation in a relatively short time frame; and building inter-sectoral teams that could sustain ICM efforts.
The U.S. Peace Corps and the U.S. Agency for International Development work in partnership to increase the capacity of Pacific island countries to effectively manage their coastal resources.
The project objective is to improve lives and livelihoods of coastal communities of mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar, through implementing participatory and integrated coastal development activities while at the same time sustaining its coastal resource base.
This project conducts evaluations of the Swedish Development Assistance Agency (SIDA) Department for Research Co-operation (SAREC) marine science program in East Africa.
The project sets the stage for engaging National Parks in the northeastern United States in establishing Marine Protected Areas.
This project improves the performace of site-based coastal management programs by simultaneously proceeding with (1) local level, geographically oriented site management programs; and (2) framework policy initiatives at the next tier of government within the Western Pacific region.
The Tanzania/Kenya project processes LANDSAT data and applies Geographic Information System technologies for use in coastal management planning and decision making.
This initiative aims to effect change in agricultural health practices to protect human, animal, and plant health and safety in accordance with international standards. The chosen strategy is the transfer and adoption of cutting-edge technology based on good management practices developed specifically for the regional shrimp aquaculture industry in Latin America.
This project enables the Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association (WIOMSA) to serve as the major indigenous African group that is actively working to create a new generation of coastal managers in the region.
The project promotes coastal and marine conservation in the Central America region and provides technical assistance using methodologies and principles of integrated coastal zone management, with a strong emphasis on field experience.
New scientific and policy initiatives through this project are aimed at understanding and responding to the unprecedented impacts of the 1997-98 mass coral bleaching event, resulting in up to 80 percent mortality in some of the reefs affected. Actions include financial and technical support to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Expert Consultation on coral bleaching; convening a special session on coral bleaching at the 9th International Coral Reef Symposium, and ecological and socio-economic studies of coral bleaching impacts.
Technical assistance is provided to the Government of Ecuador to design and execute the Interamerican Development Bank funded program to implement the plans and strategies of the Ecuador Coastal Resources Management Program.
Sri Lanka is assisted in the preparation of a Coastal Zone Management Plan consistent with the National Coast Conservation Department's mandate, as well as in developing techniques to effectively implement the CZMP.
This program identifies current and potential resource use conflicts along the Ecuadorian coast, explores institutional and technical solutions, supports research on selected topics to resolve issues, promotes private and public sector coordination, and prepares an integrated governance system for coastal resources management.
This initiative builds the capacity of Prince of Songkla University, Thailand to create a Center for integrated coastal management. It also prepares an Ecological History of Pak Panang Bay with the active involvement of faculty and staff from CORIN in identifying issues, continued research, outreach and education.
The Thailand Coastal Resources Management Project develops policy guidelines on priority coastal issues that are tested through implementation at demonstration sites. It generates new knowledge on how to protect water quality through watershed management, links research on coastal issues to policy formulation, and to engage the private sector in coastal resources management. The project also aims to enhance the skills of the National Environment Board and other cooperating Royal Thai Government agencies in formulating and implementing ICM programs.