The Albemarle-Pamlico National Estuary Partnership (APNEP) has awarded four Engagement and Stewardship grants, totaling $94,250, to organizations located in central and northeastern North Carolina and southeastern Virginia. The grants offer support to new and existing projects that seek to engage residents from communities throughout the Albemarle-Pamlico Estuarine System. APNEP administers the grants with funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality.
APNEP was able to double the total funding available by combining a state match with the amount from EPA’s National Estuary Program, Section 320 of the Clean Water Act.
Awards were given for projects from the following organizations:
- North Carolina Wildlife Federation (Raleigh, NC) – “Experiencing the Albemarle-Pamlico Estuary: Fostering Watershed Stewardship”
- North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences (Raleigh, NC) – “Shad in the Classroom”
- Back Bay Wildfowl Guild (Virginia Beach, NC) – “Growing Wild Celery to SAVe Our Wetlands: A Grassroots Collaborative.”
- Core Sound Waterfowl Museum (Harkers Island, NC) – “Down East Resilience Network Community Communications and Awareness Plan.”
“APNEP is pleased to work with these groups to further engage communities across the region in stewardship of the lands and the waters critical to our Estuary of National Significance,” said Director, Dr. Bill Crowell.
APNEP’s Engagement and Stewardship Grants are offered to support projects conducted in the Albemarle-Pamlico river basins that encourage public engagement and stewardship of the water and land, important for protection and restorations of the streams, rivers, and estuaries on the North Carolina Coastal Plain.
APNEP accepts proposals for initiatives that assist in implementing at least one of the APNEP engagement and stewardship actions listed in the programs Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan (CCMP). The CCMP is a long-term plan that contains specific targeted actions to address a wide-range of environmental issues in the Albemarle-Pamlico region, including education, engagement, and stewardship needs.
To learn more about APNEP’s grant opportunities, go here.