The Nature Conservancy and its partners’ staghorn and elkhorn coral recovery project, including Lirman’s nursery in Biscayne National Park, will receive $350,000 to help save U.S. reefs.

The news was announced yesterday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), who also said that the money, which will come from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), will be used to further develop large-scale, in-water coral nurseries and restore coral reefs along the southern coast of Florida and around the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The Nature Conservancy will serve as coordinator of the overall project; a project which will include the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, as well as other academic, government and private entities.

The project goal is to grow approximately 12,000 corals in Florida and use them to enhance coral populations in 34 different areas.