In 2023, Florida launched the Florida’s Coral Reef Restoration and Recovery (FCR3) Initiative with a goal of restoring at least 25% of Florida’s Coral Reef by 2050. The state’s investment was designed not simply to put corals back on the reef, but to build the infrastructure, technology, and skilled workforce needed to make large-scale restoration possible.

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Coral restoration groups had anticipated $25 million in state funding for 2026 to launch the next phase of FCR3, which was expected to support the largest coral planting effort in Florida’s history.

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That funding has now been removed from the state budget.

 

“We had the commitment from the state of Florida that this is something they cared about and that they were behind it,” said Kylie Smith, co-founder of I.CARE, an Islamorada-based reef restoration nonprofit. “It kind of pulled the rug out from under us that it wasn’t included in the budget for this year.”

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The long-term work needed to reach the 2050 restoration goal cannot continue at the necessary scale without continued support.

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Now, we need the next governor to protect that investment and provide the sustained funding necessary to keep Florida’s restoration efforts moving forward toward the 2050 goal.