History

The Florida Reef Resilience Program (FRRP) was founded in 2004 and brought together reef managers, scientists, reef managers, and the people whose livelihoods depend upon healthy coral reefs to address pressing coral reef conservation needs across Florida. Amongst the accomplishments of FRRP was the design and implementation of Disturbance Response Monitoring and the development of a reef-wide Resilience Action Plan (see 'Resources' tab). The strengths of FRRP included its forward-thinking approaches, including the integration of adaptive management into its projects and in being the only group at the time that involved reef managers across jurisdictional boundaries discussing a wide array of topics.

The first steps towards an SCTLD Response were taken in 2014 as the impacts of stony coral tissue loss disease were first being realized in southeast Florida. The structure and operations of the SCTLD Response were formalized in 2018. The SCTLD Response prided itself on inclusivity, with over 60 partner organizations participating across ten working groups. Its strengths lied in rapid mobilization of resources and implementation of conservation actions. 

In 2023, Florida partners decided to merge these two initiatives, bringing together the statewide, resilience-based expertise of FRRP and the on-the-ground network of the SCTLD Response in order to tackle both short- and long-term impacts to Florida's Coral Reef under one roof. This merger is Florida's Coral Reef Resilience Program!

Under the reauthorized United States Coral Reef Conservation Act, jurisdictions need to establish ‘stewardship partnerships’ to assist in the management decision-making for ecologically significant reef units. These partnerships are also important mechanisms for funding coral reef conservation activities through NOAA’s Coral Reef Stewardship Fund, which is intended to be a source of support for coral conservation activities from the Federal Government.

In Florida, FCRRP will serve as the statewide stewardship partnership for all ecologically significant reef units. 

FCRRP membership already reflects the Act's requirements and serves a similar role already by collaboratively developing and/or adopting conservation strategies and plans, coordinating resources and personnel, recommending conservation activities, and adjudicating issues. The wide participation of the local coral conservation community in FCRRP ensures that the partners who already participate in the Program and who may be interested in receiving support through CRCA mechanisms will already be eligible. The invitation for any relevant party to join the efforts of FCRRP will always remain open, offering the ability for even more organizations to meaningfully contribute to stewardship and conservation of Florida’s Coral Reef.

FCRRP is working through its evolution: we are working to maintain progress in existing focal areas while planning for action in newer areas. 

The very impactful summer 2023 coral bleaching threw a wrench into the works, leading to a pause in planning. But things are back on track, and the FCRRP is forging ahead in preparation for future disturbance response and addressing longstanding coral reef threats.