Mesoamerican Reef Fund: financing marine protected areas for the future

Snapshot Solution

by Maria Gonzalez, Mesoamerican Reef Fund

Mesoamerican Reef Region

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

The MAR Fund is a regional financial mechanism established to provide long-term dependable funding, collaborative planning and priority setting for conservation, recovery and sustainable use of natural resources in the Mesoamerican Reef. It raises and allocates funding for a network of priority coastal and marine protected areas. It also focuses on issues that affect the integrity of the MPAs, such as overfishing, through the design, establishment, management and monitoring of fish replenishment zones.

Last update: 01 Oct 2020

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Context

Challenges addressed

Lack of access to long-term funding

Lack of technical capacity

Lack of infrastructure

Scale of implementation

Local

Subnational

National

Multi-national

Ecosystems

Mangrove

Coastal forest

Coral reef

Beach

Theme

Access and benefit sharing

Ecosystem services

Sustainable financing

Indigenous people

Local actors

Coastal and marine spatial management

Protected and conserved areas management planning

Location

Lighthouse Reef

Central America

Impacts

Through different programs, the MAR Fund provides strategic, technical and financial support for planning, managing, and optimizing the hard work performed by protected area managers, other partners, and communities involved in the region’s conservation efforts.
MAR Fund has formed strategic alliances with conservation actors in the region and convened key conservation efforts. It has provided support for and participated in establishing regional partnerships, such as the Connectivity Network, the Reef Restoration Network, and the Lionfish Working Group. It is also a partner in the innovative Healthy Reefs Initiative that measures and tracks coral reef health in the region and the MAR Leadership Program that strengthens the capacities and leadership skills of young conservationists in the MAR countries.
It has been successful in mobilizing financial resources through the establishment of an endowment fund that by December 2017 was a little more than $26.1 million, and $21.8 million in project funding.
It received a $10 million endowment challenge grant from Oak Foundation to provide long-term financial sustainability for marine resource management and conservation initiatives in Belize.This grant is conditioned to raise $15 million in matching funds in a 5-year period.