CPRA, AWF Host Two Leadership Roundtables

Louisiana’s Coastal Protection & Restoration Authority (CPRA) and America’s WETLAND Foundation (AWF) will host two leadership roundtables on October 24 and 25, bringing together a diverse group of coastal interests to focus on implementing and financing the state’s coastal master plan.

The meetings will take place at the Lod Cook Alumni Center on the LSU campus.

“The roundtables will cover a wide range of issues that can impact the success of restoration efforts,” Val Marmillion, managing director of the AWF, said.

“With the next version of the state’s Master Plan on the horizon, issues that effect economic and community interests, from sediment delivery from the Mississippi River to creative financing that encourages private sector investment, will be front and center in defining success as we go forward.”

Results from the two October leadership roundtables will frame the agenda for a summit on the “National Significance of Louisiana’s Coastal Master Plan” to be held in Baton Rouge on December 7.

Through the roundtables and summit, AWF will employ strategies used in its series of “Blue Ribbon Resilient Communities” forums and its World Delta Dialogues held in Mekong Delta of Vietnam, as a way to elevate the plight of coastal regions soon to feel the effects of sea level rise and subsiding deltas.

These and other topics will be discussed at the roundtables:

• Managing the River – Socio-Economic Considerations to Benefit Wetlands, Industry, Communities and Economies;
• Operational Strategies for Sediment Diversions;
• Reconciling Mitigation and Leveraging Ecosystem Services Valuing in Private Investment in Restoration;
• Achieving Financial Stewardship and Return on Investment.

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