Coastal Resilience & Trees Fund: Over $159,000 Awarded in 2023
Over $159,000 was awarded in the Coastal Resilience & Trees Fund’s inaugural year!
Twenty-five Projects Funded in Effort to Bolster Resilience Along the Virginia Coast
Example of a project eligible for funding. Living shoreline at a Wetlands Watch supporter’s home on the Eastern Shore
Norfolk, Virginia - Wetlands Watch and the Virginia Outdoors Foundation are thrilled to announce grant awards in excess of $159,000 for projects that will significantly enhance the ecological health and sustainability of Virginia's coastal areas. Among the projects that were awarded funding:
Restoration of two acres of pollinator fields composed of native plants along the Eastern Shore
Creation of an accessible, vibrant green street in the Fulton Hill Business District (Richmond)
Restoration of a residential tidal shoreline adjacent to the Weyanoke Bird & Wildlife Sanctuary (Norfolk)
Removal of invasive plants and replacing them with natives at the Cape Charles Natural Area Preserve
Planting of trees on the banks of the Rappahannock River
The Coastal Resilience and Trees Fund aims to bolster coastal resilience and empower organizations and governmental bodies to strategize future resilience initiatives in Virginia's coastal zone. In 2023, its inaugural year, the fund provided support for areas from Petersburg in western tidewater to the Eastern Shore, and Fairfax in the north down to Hampton Roads.
“Funding this year supported the planting of nearly a thousand native trees and shrubs, the removal of invasive species on eight publicly accessible sites, and bolstered resilience efforts in seventeen communities identified as environmental justice areas by Virginia’s Department of Environmental Quality,” said Mary-Carson Stiff, Executive Director of Wetlands Watch. “It’s been quite a year.”
The grant program is designed to be accessible to a wide range of organizations and individuals. No matching funds are required and there are no grant minimums. Funds can be distributed upfront or on a reimbursement basis. The grant program also funds green infrastructure maintenance and capacity building, two categories for which other funding sources are scarce. Funds can also be used as a non-federal match to help organizations qualify for larger grant programs.
The program is funded by the Virginia Outdoors Foundation, which was established by the Virginia legislature in 1966 to promote the preservation of open space for future generations of Virginians.
“We thank Wetlands Watch for their partnership in delivering these much-needed funds to Virginia’s coastal communities as they deal with increased flooding brought on by sea level rise and extreme weather events,” said VOF Executive Director Brett Glymph.
The 2024 application window for the Coastal Resilience and Trees Fund grant program is expected to open early next year. For more details, visit the CRTF website at: https://wetlandswatch.org/coastal-resilience-trees-fund.