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Coastal Training Program Overview
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The National Estuarine Research Reserve System’s Coastal Training Program (CTP) was formally initiated in 2001 to provide up-to-date scientific information and skill-building opportunities to the people who are responsible for making decisions affecting coastal lands and waters of the United States. The program aims to provide coastal decision-makers with the knowledge and tools they need to address critical resource management issues.
Decisions made by coastal communities can have profound, long-term consequences for estuarine and coastal environments. Land use planners, regulators, developers, coastal managers and elected officials, to name a few, often do not have access to relevant science-based information, training, and tools that can support informed decisions affecting the coast. Considering the wide range of impacts to coastal areas from human and environmental factors, these decision makers need sound information on which to base decisions. The Reserve System, through its CTP, is uniquely positioned within coastal communities across the nation to engage these decision-makers and provide the scientific basis for informed decisions affecting the coast.
Since 2006, these reserve-based programs have delivered more than 400 evaluated training events reaching at least 13,000 decision-makers in the coastal zone. As the program expands to new reserves and matures, the reach and impact of the program will increase substantially in the years ahead.
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| Georgia's coastal marshes, courtesy of the Sapelo Island Reserve |
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Last Updated on: Wednesday, May 05, 2010
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