01/12/2023 | News release | Distributed by Public on 01/12/2023 08:33
NOAA's Office of Habitat Conservation made significant progress conserving, protecting, and restoring habitat in 2022. Join us as we look back at some of the year's most popular stories about our work and the importance of habitat for fisheries and communities.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law presents an unprecedented opportunity for NOAA to make an impact for fisheries, endangered species, and coastal communities. One of this year's most-read stories highlighted funding for fish passage under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law:
Hundreds-even thousands-of feet beyond the reach of sunlight, the deep sea is the largest, yet least known, environment on Earth. Ongoing exploration and research continues to reveal incredible new information about the creatures that live in these habitats. Two of our most popular stories of 2022 highlighted discoveries about deep-sea sponges:
Our annual Habitat Monthcelebration focused on the role of healthy habitat in building resilience. We highlighted stories about how restoring habitat for our nation's fisheries and protected resources can also help coastal communities recover from and adapt to the impacts of climate change. Beyond Habitat Month, we continued sharing stories about the benefits of healthy habitats-like rivers and oyster reefs-through other habitat-related celebrations:
In 2022, we announced the Middle Peninsula in Virginia as NOAA's newest Habitat Focus Area. We're working with partners in the area at the federal, state, local and tribal levels. NOAA will work to conserve fish habitat and build the region's ability to bounce back in the face of climate change.
Other popular habitat stories from the past year span a diversity of topics-from living shorelines, to mitigating negative impacts on natural resources, to NOAA's largest ever wetland restoration project:
We look forward to sharing more exciting news about our habitat conservation efforts in 2023. Stay up to date by subscribing to our monthly HabitatNews newsletterand following us on Twitter.