Our Work

The Albemarle-Pamlico National Estuary Program works to understand, protect, and restore the natural resources of the Albemarle-Pamlico region, and to engage people to show how they can contribute to maintaining a healthy ecosystem. Our efforts are guided by our Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan, also known as a CCMP. This document directs APNEP to accomplish targeted actions that cover topics such as outdoor education, water quality, invasive species, oysters, habitat restoration, and water flow. APNEP’s CCMP is updated on a roughly five year cycle.

APNEP provides both funding and staff support for a variety of efforts that support the program's mission. Though APNEP maintains a small staff, the program is able to leverage its contributions by coordinating with regional partners.  Staff rely on input from partners to inform the priorities of the Partnership. Anyone working or living in the Albemarle-Pamlico region can be an APNEP partner. Efforts are categorized by identification and research, protection and resilience, outreach and engagement, and monitoring and restoration.

APNEP has taken a partnership approach to achieve its mission. Protection of the Albemarle-Pamlico estuarine system is an enormous undertaking, and the resources directly allocated to APNEP are limited. APNEP seeks to overcome this hurdle by leveraging partnerships among governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), academia, and the public to make significant improvements to the sounds. Because of its broad reach, APNEP is well positioned to fill gaps and identify synergies among its partners.