An Overview of the NOAA Habitat Blueprint

Healthy coastal and marine habitats provide more than two million jobs and over $250 billion in economic activity annually, but they are being lost and degraded at a rapid rate.  These habitats are essential for the sustainability of fish and other marine life, and provide a myriad of benefits to coastal communities through recreational, economic, cultural, and environmental services.  Recognizing the need for more concerted efforts to protect and restore habitat, NOAA has launched a new initiative, the NOAA Habitat Blueprint, to guide future actions.

The Habitat Blueprint provides a forward-looking framework for NOAA to think and act strategically across programs and with partner organizations to address the growing challenge of coastal and marine habitat loss and degradation.  It will increase the effectiveness of NOAA’s efforts to improve habitat conditions for fisheries, coastal and marine life, along with other economic, cultural, and environmental benefits our society needs and enjoys.

The Habitat Blueprint consists of a four-pronged approach:

1) Implement regional habitat initiatives as immediate opportunities to explore new collaborative approaches to improve habitat and inform future actions. These initiatives will implement habitat-based solutions to increase the long-term productivity of living marine resources and address climate change in coastal communities.  Thirteen regional initiatives are already underway across the country.

2) Establish geographic priorities to focus long-term habitat science and conservation efforts. NOAA will direct its expertise, resources for science, and on-the-ground conservation efforts in targeted areas to maximize investments and the benefits to marine resources and coastal communities.

3) Implement a systematic and strategic approach to habitat science to inform effective decision-making. NOAA will prioritize its science and use a more integrative approach for planning and conducting quality habitat science that is directed to priority species and areas.

4) Strengthen policy and legislation at the national level to enhance our ability to achieve meaningful habitat conservation. NOAA will remove barriers and seize opportunities to improve its policies, regulations, and legal authorities. This will ensure that habitat considerations are an integral part of marine, coastal, and ocean resource management and will strengthen NOAA’s habitat conservation focus overall.