Abstract
Marine protected areas (MPAs) require sustained funding to provide sustained marine protection. Up until now government budgets, multi- and bi-lateral aid, and philanthropic grants have been commonly relied upon to finance the management and enforcement of MPAs. But new funding mechanisms, such as impact investments or blue carbon, are increasingly applied and developed. Here, we present a semi-structured review that identifies 11 or more sources of finance, 21 financial instruments and more than 75 potential combinations thereof that show the current diversity of financial mechanisms available to support MPA establishment and operations. Based on the review, we developed nearly 100 indicators reflecting environmental, governmental, socioeconomic, and management characteristics that can inform the appropriateness, and corresponding strengths and weaknesses, of applying these financial mechanisms to any given MPA. The outputs provide a series of recommendations for implementing new funding mechanisms and ways to improve the sustainability of in-place mechanisms. The findings were compiled into a replicable framework and excel tool that was pilot tested in May 2021 for Parque Nacional Natural Corales de Profundidad in Colombia that identified potential ways to improve upon financial mechanisms, including, hiring a full-time manager and potential alternative mechanisms like biodiversity offsets from fossil fuel exploration and exploitation, among several others. The research also identified barriers for implementing financial mechanisms that reflect broader systemic challenges for MPA finance worldwide.
Highlights
Marine protected areas (MPAs) have received global attention for the potential to preserve, restore, and enhance resilience of marine ecosystems around the world (Sumaila, 1998; O’Leary et al, 2018; Grorud-Colvert et al, 2021)
Tourism and commercial fishing were two such industries found to be especially relevant to MPA finance (Sala et al, 2013), and were given their own sets of indicators
This review identified and evaluated a series of 11 or more sources of finance and 21 financial mechanisms that, when combined, comprise the diversity of financial mechanisms that can raise funds to support MPA operations
Summary
Marine protected areas (MPAs) have received global attention for the potential to preserve, restore, and enhance resilience of marine ecosystems around the world (Sumaila, 1998; O’Leary et al, 2018; Grorud-Colvert et al, 2021). The MPA received an annual budget of US $106,192 in 2018, and we estimated a hypothetical minimum funding gap of between $70,000 and $150,000 USD/year as the target for increasing funds for purposes of this exercise (Chapter 5, Bohorquez, 2021). This would be equal to a $3.75 million lump sum endowment assuming a 4.0% distribution rate (Neely and Brister, 2010; Dahiya and Yermack, 2019).
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
