PRESS RELEASE – September 2, 2024
Call for proposals now open for CORDAP’s Coral Accelerator Program 2024
The G20 Coral Research and Development Accelerator Platform (CORDAP) is pleased to announce the launch of its third funding call, the Coral Accelerator Program (CAP) 2024. With a total of USD$8.5 million allocated to the call, CORDAP seeks innovative solutions that can secure the future of corals and reefs in the face of climate change and other environmental challenges. Successful applicants will be awarded funding up to USD$ 1.5 million per project, lasting from one to three years. The deadline for submission is October 21, 2024, and funded projects are expected to commence in late 2025.
In conjunction with the launch of the new funding call, CORDAP is proud to announce the awardees of CAP 2023. Last year’s call attracted 120 proposals from around the globe, and after rigorous evaluation, eight groundbreaking projects were selected for funding. These projects, with a total investment of USD $10 million, span 18 countries and are set to make significant contributions to coral conservation and restoration.
The Urgency of Action
Since the 1950s, half of the world’s coral reefs have been lost, and without rapid intervention, more than 60% of the remaining reefs may disappear by 2050. Corals and reefs are critical, not only for the thousands of species they support directly but also for the approximately 1 billion people who depend on them for income and coastal protection.
Celebrating CAP 2023 awarded projects
From the 605 applicants for CAP 2023, 32% of the lead applicants were female, and 72% of the countries involved in the awarded proposals are from low and middle-income countries. The selected projects include pioneering research in cryopreservation in the Coral Triangle, scaling up coral restoration efforts on Mnemba Island through community engagement, developing a mobile app for coral reef monitoring in the Caribbean, and conducting deep-sea expeditions and coral restoration off the coast of Argentina, among others.
Reflecting on the success of past projects, CORDAP takes pride in supporting innovators like Dr. Rebecca Albright, who is developing low-cost, low-effort interventions to reduce coral mortality at early life stages. Albright stated,
“Collaborating with CORDAP and being part of a global group with such a wide range of cross-cutting expertise, all working together with the common goal of saving corals is so exciting. Because the problems that reefs face are global, and they are advancing rapidly, we don’t have time to try one solution at a time, we need to try many different solutions concurrently to figure out what works.”
About the Coral Accelerator Program (CAP) 2024
CORDAP, a G20 initiative, is the only international organization fully dedicated to funding research and development focused on tropical and cold-water coral conservation and restoration. The Coral Accelerator Program is guided by three core principles:
- Ensuring Local Community Benefits: Solutions developed must be affordable and accessible to those most in need.
- Global Inclusivity: Applicant teams must include organizations from at least two countries, one of which must be a low or middle-income country.
- Open Source Solutions: Intellectual property resulting from CORDAP-funded activities will be made available free under a public license for all commercial and non-commercial coral conservation use, enabling broader access and innovation.
Carlos Duarte, Executive Director of CORDAP and Distinguished Professor at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), emphasized the critical nature of this work:
“Corals are the rainforests of the ocean, yet they are at risk of functional extinction within the next decade without urgent action. The goals of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and Sustainable Development Goals cannot be achieved if we lose coral reefs, which face a real and urgent risk. This is why CORDAP is investing in international R&D projects that advance our capacity to conserve and restore corals worldwide. Unfortunately, we are reminded of the urgency of our mission nearly every day as news of mass mortality of corals continue to come from around the ocean.”
The CAP 2024 will award projects which have the potential to significantly advance science and technology in several high need coral research areas including coral aquaculture, cold-water corals, means to preserve and conserve existing corals, enhance coral early life survival, as well as approaches that contribute to research and development capacity building, among other topics.
The deadline for submissions of Concept Notes for CAP 2024 is October 21, 2024. For more information on the Coral Accelerator Program and how to submit a proposal click here, and to learn about the newly awarded 8 CAP 2023 projects visit https://cordap.org/projects-awarded/
Photo: Valerie Chamberland/SECORE International
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About CORDAP
The Coral Research & Development Accelerator Platform – CORDAP – was launched in 2020 by the G20 to fast-track research and development (R&D) solutions to save the world’s corals. CORDAP brings together the best minds worldwide, in a transdisciplinary approach, to accelerate international research and development to supply the technologies and innovations required to secure a future for corals and reefs.
Contact
Carla Lourenço, Communications Specialist
Email: carla.lourenco@kaust.edu.sa
Coral Accelerator Platform 2023 awarded projects and team leaders’ details:
- Chiahsin Lin, National Dong Hwa University; Taiwan, Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia; “Coral conservation capacity development in the Coral Triangle: a cryorepository network for coral larvae”
- Iliana B Baums, Helmholtz Institute for Functional Marine Biodiversity (HIFMB); Germany, Belize and Honduras; “Building the tools for scientific population management of critically endangered coral species in Belize as a model for other restoration programs”
- Yimnang Golbuu, The Nature Conservancy; Palau and Marshall Islands; “Scaling up identification, protection and local management of coral reefs resistant to future climate stress: developing the first Coral Futures Corps in the Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia and Palau”
- Margaret Miller, SECORE International; USA and Mauritius; “Translating field-based larval propagation to the Western Indian Ocean”
- Aran Mooney, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution; USA, Dominica and Cayman Islands; “Good vibrations: Increasing the capacity of acoustic enrichment applications for larval settlement and restoration”
- Mareike Huhn, Ruhr-University Bochum; Germany and Indonesia; “Coral spawning monitoring and awareness for restoration network Indonesia”
- Erik Cordes, Temple University; USA and Argentina; “Securing the Future of Cold-Water Corals Across the Argentinean Exclusive Economic Zone”
- Camilla Floros, Africa Foundation; South Africa, Tanzania and Seychelles; “Mnemba Island Marine Conservation Area: Restoring the balance”