The troubled reefs in the Keys just got some help. United Arab Emirates donates $3.5M
The United Way of Collier and the Keys on Wednesday announced a gift of $3.5 million from the United Arab Emirates to help restore seven reefs in Monroe County.
The donation comes after a year of discussion between leaders from the United Way chapter and the Middle Eastern nation.
And it comes at a time when the Florida Keys reefs can use some help.
They have been besieged by alarming troubles: stony tissue disease, warmer temperatures caused by climate change, and the impact of Hurricane Irma in 2017.
“This is what friends do for each other in times of need,” said Yousef Al Otaiba, UAE Ambassador to the United States.
“The UAE is delighted to be able to help the Florida Keys community in this special way and begin to restore its iconic coral reefs,” Al Otaiba said. “We share the same planet and face the same challenges.”
The $3.5 million is part of a $10 million pledge from the UAE to communities in Florida, including Jacksonville and Collier County, for recovery from Irma, the United Way said, adding that it will launch one of the largest investments in reef restoration in the world.
“This gift will begin the efforts to change our Florida Keys reef from the increasingly desolate landscape it has become and return it to flourishing vitality for the future,” said Leah Stockton, the Florida Keys area president of the agency.
The United Way, the largest privately funded nonprofit in the world, has a mission statement that revolves around improving issues connected to education, income and health.
But reef restoration fits the agency’s goals in the Florida Keys when it comes to education and financial stability, Stockton said.
“We want to ensure the financial stability for our working class,” Stockton said. “Here in the Keys that means we have to restore the reef so we have a future for this working class that depends on it for their livelihood.”
More than 60 percent of the jobs in Monroe County are directly related to the marine environment.
“The backbone of our community is what the marine environment here provides for us,” Stockton said.
The United Way will oversee, manage and distribute the grant as part of its continuing Hurricane Irma recovery campaign, working with experts at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Most of the money will go to local reef restoration organizations that do the hands-on work to save and grow coral, the agency said, but the grant will also create marine science programs for the 8,500 children in the Monroe County School District and create a scholarship fund for Keys students pursuing degrees in marine science and related fields.
Part of the grant will make the UAE a co-presenting sponsor for the Reef Futures 2021 Conference in Key Largo in May 2021.
The United Way of Collier County and the Florida Keys chapter plan to merge on April 1, consolidating internal operations but not donated cash. Activities and programs in each community will remain the same, the agency said.
This story was originally published February 26, 2020 at 7:00 AM.
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