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 For  Immediate  Release
 Contact: Lisa Noble
 Phone: (504) 293-2610
 Email: LNoble@americaswetland.com
 

PRIVATE SECTOR PROJECTS ONE SOLUTION TO FILL GAP  
OF WETLAND RESTORATION FUNDS SHORTAGE
America's WETLAND Foundation to Launch Coastal Restoration Registry
 
Baton Rouge, LA - Noting it will require all hands on deck, the America's WETLAND
Foundation (AWF) today called for private sector investment in "transitional projects"
necessary to shore up the coast as large scale public projects come on line in the future.   
 
"Coastal land loss isn't waiting for adequate funding for projects," AWF managing director,  
Val Marmillion, said. "Private sector sponsored projects can be realized now to sustain  
wetlands in areas where fresh water marshes are subject to salt water intrusion and
eventual land loss."

AWF has worked for years to encourage private landowners and companies to invest in
restoration, exploring practical avenues and incentives. On this topic, the Foundation has held leadership forums, meetings with industry leaders, and co-hosted a series of roundtables
and a summit with CPRA in which details of the 2017 Louisiana Coastal Master Plan
were released.

The Foundation recently completed a private project along the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway  
near LaRose, Louisiana, utilizing green recyclable plastic products and native grasses to  
rebuild a mile of waterway embankment to protect native habitat.

AWF plans to establish a wetlands restoration Registry to account for projects by acreage  
and costs that have been paid for through private sector funding by industry or private  
non-profit organizations and to list projects ready for sponsorship.

"With the state's announcement that offshore oil and gas revenue through GOMESA will  
be half of what was anticipated, it is critical we enlist the help of industry and national  
organizations in sponsoring wetland restoration transitional projects," Sidney Coffee, AWF  
senior advisor, said. "We must find ways to lower costs and move with urgency and the  
private sector is a good option for doing that." 

Utilizing AWF's America's Energy Coast Leadership Council as a base, the America's  
WETLAND Restoration Registry follows a model first introduced by Dr. Larry Blackburn of  
the SSPEED Center at Rice University in Texas. The concept imagines a registry of  
environmental projects collected and matched with private funders. AWF plans to work with  
CPRA to ensure the projects listed are consistent with the state's master plan.

"Wetland restoration makes good business sense for companies with assets like pipelines  
in the wetlands or move commerce through navigable waterways that are feeling the negative  
effects or erosion," Marmillion said.  "National conservation organizations also raise large  
sums of money for environmental or habitat sustainability and we encourage them to spend  
it here and include their ongoing projects in the Registry."

Until now, there has not been a coordinated path for revealing or recognizing the volume of  
private monies spent for restoration. AWF is hopeful that such an accounting will create  
an incentive for more private funding. The weight of the combined effort could encourage even greater private investment.

The foundation has also worked to investigate private institutional investing in restoration; 
large funds seek environmentally beneficial investments. Such investments play into a  
company's reputation for seeking responsible solutions as part of a business model. 
 
"Companies are not charities and we need a path for them to act in the best interest of their  
bottom line," Coffee said. "Tweaking the models for private investment in restoration - allowing  
for pooling mitigation dollars for larger scale projects and direct investments through mitigation banking - need to be part of the solution. Restoration can make good business sense and  
is one of the keys to the future of saving our coast."

AWF encourages companies and NGOs who have promising wetland restoration projects  
planned or wishing to add projects to the Registry in the future, to contact the Foundation  
directly.  
 
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The America's WETLAND Foundation manages the largest, most comprehensive public education campaign in Louisiana's history, raising public awareness of the impact of Louisiana's wetland loss on the state, nation and world. The initiative is supported by a growing coalition of world, national and state conservation and environmental organizations and has drawn private support from businesses that see wetlands protection as a key to economic growth. For more information, visit  www.americaswetland.com.