Coastal Resilience and Regional Adaptation

MCAS Cherry Point Future Mtg Living Shoreline Bogue Field

AFWA 2023 Climate Adaptation Leadership Award Video

On September 25, 2023, SERPPAS received the 2023 Climate Adaptation Leadership Award for Natural Resources from the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies! SERPPAS was recognized in the “Broad Partnership” category for demonstrating exemplary leadership in reducing climate-related threats and promoting adaptation of the nation’s natural resources. To learn more about the AFWA Climate Adaptation Leadership Awards for Natural Resources, visit: https://www.fishwildlife.org/afwa-inspires/climate-adaptation-network/climate-adaptation-leadership-awards

About

Extreme weather events and increasing changes in environmental conditions due to climate change, including hazards such as hurricanes, flooding, sea level rise, extreme temperatures, drought, and wildfires, put military readiness, natural resources, communities, and working lands at risk. These serious threats to mission assurance and mission-essential functions require collaboration to successfully enhance resilience across geographical and governance boundaries.

Although the missions of the SERPPAS partners are different, the partners share an interest in ensuring resilience and advancing adaptation in the face of these challenges. The SERPPAS Coastal Resilience and Regional Adaptation Work Group fosters collaboration among Federal, State, and local partners to build capacity, develop plans, share resources, and implement projects that increase resilience for military installations and communities. Collaboration on coastal resilience and regional adaptation, with a focus on integrating nature-based solutions into resilience planning and projects, will provide significant benefits to all partners and their respective missions.

This collaboration will increase shared knowledge, resources and tools among natural resource agencies, the military, and local communities by expanding the opportunities for successful solutions. As a result, SERPPAS will better protect our people, our military installations, our lands and waters and wildlife, our towns and cities, our forests and farms, our economic opportunity, and our quality of life. From the perspective of military mission sustainment, regional collaboration and coordination on climate resilience will: minimize loss of coastal training infrastructure or interruption of operations at low-lying bases; minimize the potential for new species placement on the endangered species list and/or critical habitat designated in the vicinity of military installations; prioritize watershed protection for increased water supply resilience and flood mitigation on installations and surrounding communities; minimize damage to stormwater systems and other utilities shared between bases and communities; and increase the effectiveness of joint installation and community planning for and recovering from severe weather events and changing environmental conditions.

Strategic Objectives

Continue expanding partnerships and capacity focused on connecting DoD installations and surrounding communities on climate resilience planning and actions.
Explore how climate change is influencing the other SERPPAS focus areas and identify opportunities to collaborate.
Use and assist in the development of mapping tools, such as the SERPPAS good map, that can advance climate resilience planning and implementation.
Support the South Atlantic Salt Marsh Initiative (SASMI) and the Marsh Forward Plan.
Support the development, implementation, and evaluation of nature-based solutions for climate resilience projects benefiting military missions and communities in the southeast.

Work Group Lead

Michelle Covi

Coastal Resilience DoD Liaison
Georgia Sea Grant/SERPPAS
mcovi@uga.edu

Michelle Covi is the Coastal Resilience DoD Liaison at University of Georgia Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant working regionally in the Southeast to connect Sea Grant programs with military community coastal resilience projects through a partnership with SERPPAS and the Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration (REPI) program.

Michelle comes to Georgia after six years as a coastal resilience lead in the Virginia Sea Grant extension program with Old Dominion University and six years with a coastal hazards center at East Carolina University where she also completed her Ph.D. in Coastal Resources Management. Michelle is a UGA alumna, having received her master’s degree in zoology (marine science) after completing research at the UGA Marine Institute. She lives on her husband’s family farm in Hartwell, Georgia, just a couple of miles from the Savannah River

Resources

News

2024 Catalyst Fund Grant Awards

9/30/24

The Network for Landscape Conservation is pleased to announce 15 Catalyst Fund grant awards for Partnerships working to implement place-based, community-grounded conservation at the necessary landscape scale. Catalyst Fund grants are intended to allow for strategic investments in strengthening a Partnership’s collaborative capacity in ways that create enduring forward momentum within the Partnership and accelerate conservation progress into the future. Congratulations to the winners in the SERPPAS footprint in Florida and South Carolina!

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FEMA Joins the Sentinel Landscapes Partnership to Support Climate Resilience and Military Readiness

9/24/24

The Sentinel Landscapes Partnership announced the addition of the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) to its Federal Coordinating Committee (FCC). The FEMA Office of Resilience joins the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Department of Defense (DOD), and the Department of the Interior (DOI) in designating sentinel landscapes to support mutually beneficial land-use and climate resilience around military installations across the country. FEMA joins the FCC following the signing of an addendum to the Sentinel Landscapes Memorandum of Understanding.

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Interior Department Announces More Than $157 Million in Funding for Wetland Conservation Projects and National Wildlife Refuges

9/10/24

The Department of the Interior announced that more than $46.2 million in grants was approved by the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission which will conserve or restore 91,425 acres of wetland and associated upland habitats for waterfowl, shorebirds, and other birds in 17 states. These grants, made through the North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA), will be matched by more than $99.1 million in partner funds.

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Restoring the Shore: Dune Restoration Project Underway at Naval Station Mayport

9/6/24

General Mechanical Corporation has embarked on an ambitious $10.6 million construction contract to restore the storm-battered dunes at Naval Station Mayport. Awarded by Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC) Southeast in September 2023, the contract sets a new course for the restoration of coastal defenses that were ravaged by Hurricanes Ian and Nicole, as well as ongoing tidal erosion.

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Evaluation of Publicly Accessible Nature-Based Solutions Databases as Sources for Evidence of Effectiveness

7/31/24

A new report from the Duke Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability evaluates the nature-based solution data currently available through publicly available databases relative to information needs. In total, 27 databases with publicly available, structured information on NBS research studies (6 databases) or individual projects (21 databases) were assessed for their utility as well as geographic and topical coverage.

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North Carolina and Three Other Atlantic States to Benefit from Biden-Harris Administration Investment for Community-Driven Solutions to Cut Climate Pollution

7/23/24

As part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Investing in America agenda, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that the Atlantic Conservation Coalition – made up of representatives from North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and Maryland – has been selected to receive a $421,238,074 Climate Pollution Reduction Grant to implement community-driven solutions that tackle the climate crisis, reduce air pollution, advance environmental justice, and accelerate America’s clean energy transition. The proposed project of the Atlantic Conservation Commission, consisting of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, the South Carolina Office of Resilience, the Maryland Department of the Environment, and the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources, will focus on the protection and restoration of coastal, peatland, and forest lands across the four member states.

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Events & Webinars

Drought and Aquatic Ecosystems in the Southeast U.S. Workshop: January 7 - 9, 2025
Raleigh, NC
Challenges and Opportunities of Scaling Nature-based Solutions for Climate Adaptation: January 23, 2025
Webinar (hosted by NOAA)
2025 Southeast Land Conservation Conference: March 26 - 28, 2025
Ashville, NC

SERPPAS Meetings

February 2025

Spring 2025 Steering Committee Meeting: February 19 - 20, 2025
Atlanta, GA

Southeast Regional Partnership
for Planning and Sustainability

The Power of Unconventional Partnership

Coastal Resilience and Regional Adaptation

AFWA 2023 Climate Adaptation Leadership Award Video

About

Strategic Objectives