The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) have announced more than $136 million in grants to help communities prepare for increasing coastal flooding and more intense storms, while improving thousands of acres of coastal habitats.

Awarded through NFWF’s National Coastal Resilience Fund in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Defense and private-sector partners, the funding will support 88 natural infrastructure projects in 29 states and U.S. territories. When combined with eight grants announced earlier this year, the new grants will push the fund’s total amount awarded to more than $144 million in 2022.

Together, the coastal resilience grants will leverage more than $97 million in matching contributions to generate a total conservation impact of $241 million. The latest projects aim to restore and create more than 16,000 acres of coastal habitats, including coastal dunes in Texas and California, saltmarshes in Louisiana and Virginia, oyster reefs along the Atlantic seaboard, and living shorelines in Mississippi and Florida.

“As communities recover from devastating storm events, it is vital we support nature-based solutions that help communities not only protect against destructive flooding, but also enhance the coastal habitats that are so important to people and wildlife,” said NFWF executive director and CEO Jeff Trandahl. “These grants will provide the critical resources that communities need to prepare for, rebound from, and adapt to the more destructive storms that are impacting our coasts.”

(Photo credit: Getty Images/Felixmizioznikov)