Book Description

"In response to NOAA’s Broad Agency Announcement (NOAA-NFA-NFAPO-2010-2002272), SeaWeb proposed to work in partnership with NOAA’s Coral Reef Conservation Program (CRCP) to develop outreach and communication strategies to enhance the protection of coral by motivating behavioral and policy change through strategic communications and social marketing. In 2007, a panel of experts in coral reef resource science and management assessed the effectiveness of NOAA’s CRCP. In response to the panel’s report, the CRCP developed a "Roadmap for the Future." A key component of the roadmap was fostering the development of management priorities in all of the U.S. coral reef jurisdictions and conducting capacity assessments to achieve these priorities. The jurisdictions responded by working with CRCP staff and consultants to identify local priorities and where those priorities overlap with CRCP priorities, namely, priorities that addressed the threats of climate change, fishing and land-based pollution. The roadmap also noted the need for strategic communications and social marketing to ensure that priorities are achieved and that change is sustainable. There was recognition that communications efforts in the past have not consistently produced critical public support, political action or the desired conservation behaviors. The identification of need at the both the jurisdictional level and national level presented a tremendous opportunity to capitalize on the interest on the ground for social marketing and the desire for strategic training and support"--Executive summary.