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CWRP |
International CWRP |
Chronology |
Quick Facts |
Partners |
Projects |
FAQ |
Events |
Contacts
![]() Coastal America is an action-oriented, results-driven process aimed at restoring and preserving vital coastal ecosystems and addressing our most critical environmental issues. The Coastal America Partnership was launched in 1991 by former President George H.W. Bush (Bush's letter to the CWRP), and formalized in 1992 with a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by nine sub-cabinet level agency representatives. These representatives committed their agencies to work together and integrate their efforts with state, local and nongovernmental activities.
The Coastal America Partnership utilizes a number of tools and programs to facilitate its mission. These include the Corporate Wetlands Restoration Partnership (CWRP) and International Corporate Wetlands Restoration Partnership (ICWRP), the network of Coastal Ecosystem Learning Centers (CELCs), and the Coastal America Partnership Awards program.
The CWRP is a way for environmentally responsible companies to reach out to their communities, beyond the boundaries of their own facilities. It is not a substitute for corporate compliance with federal permitting requirements. Instead, it allows private companies to make voluntary donations of funds or in-kind services to a non-profit organization. These funds or in-kind services are then used, at the company’s direction, to help support coastal habitat restoration or public education projects that have been selected and endorsed by the Coastal America Regional Implementation Teams.
Projects supported by CWRP include: marsh and other aquatic habitat restoration, fish passage improvements, invasive species control, threatened/endangered species protection, educational efforts, research and monitoring projects. Contributions have supported various stages of projects, including feasibility, design, and implementation. In addition, corporate employees have provided volunteer services to a variety of projects.
International Corporate Wetlands Restoration Partnership (ICWRP) The founding partners of this new initiative, including The Gillette Company, The Nature Conservancy and the United Nations Foundation (UNF) joined Coastal America partners for the formal launch of ICWRP as part of the White Water to Blue Water Conference in Miami on March 22, 2004 . The partners also participated in a press event in Mexico City , Mexico on October 26, 2004 , hosted by the U.S. Embassy, to formally introduce the first project to the Mexican public. ICWRP commenced work in 2004 through the funding of a large-scale pilot project at the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve in Quintana Roo , Mexico . Sian Ka’an is both a World Heritage Site and a Ramsar Wetland of International Importance that contains wetlands and aquatic habitats of vital ecological importance. The site is threatened by coastal development, unregulated tourism, and unsustainable farming and fishing practices. Through the ICWRP Partnership, The Nature Conservancy, The Gillette Company and the UN Foundation provided $750,000 to support efforts to conserve freshwater, marine and coastal resources at the site. Project partners, working with Amigos de Sian Ka’an (a local environmental organization), are developing a conservation land-buyer program targeting the coastal areas of the Sian Ka’an reserve. Project partners will acquire a key tract of land, Pez Maya, that protects the only canal linking the coral reef to an extensive wetland system. Further information on this exciting new partnership opportunity is available on the ICWRP Partnership Website.
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