COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT

NOAA is lighting five birthday candles for Mission: Iconic Reefs, just as the world-wide restoration community celebrates Corals Week at the international Reef Futures Symposium in Mexico.  Mission: Iconic Reefs was born in Key West on December 9, 2019.

 “When Mission: Iconic Reefs launched it was only an idea—nothing more than words on paper,” said Jennifer Moore, the program’s senior manager and co-chair of Reef Futures. “There was no staff, other than the goodwill of partners and NOAA employees working “other duties as assigned,” yet today, we are 20 strong as a team with over $35 million raised from various sources to implement the plan. Most importantly, practitioners are outplanting corals on the reef, research is underway alongside restoration, and terabytes of data are being collected and analyzed. Given the typically-slow wheels of government, our five-year pace has been nothing short of astonishing. Even the need for my new role as senior manager is evidence of how far we have come.”

 The anniversary arrives with the launch of a new Mission: Iconic Reefs website, a five-year report and the trailer for a soon-to-be released mini-documentary on the program, produced by the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries.

 “Our coral reefs are critical to the ecosystem of the Florida Keys and foundational to our economy and way of life,” said Matt Stout, Acting Superintendent for Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. “Five years ago, NOAA and its partners embarked on the historic mission to help nature recover and thrive. This mission has brought together the best and brightest in the field to see this celebrated operation through to success.”

 M:IR aims to restore seven reef sites in Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. A formal celebration for the anniversary will take place in the Keys during the New Year.

[livemarket market_name="KONK Life LiveMarket" limit=3 category=“” show_signup=0 show_more=0]