Mesoamerican Reef Conservation
Supporting marine and coastal protected areas in Central America
The Project
The objective of the Mesoamerican Reef Conservation project is to contribute to the consolidation of marine and coastal protected areas, the protection of biological diversity, and the sustainable use of their resources, in addition to promoting the economic well-being and improving the quality of life of the resident populations of the reef system shared by Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras.
Context
The lines of work that guide the actions of the Mesoamerican Reef Conservation project are:
- Consolidation of marine protected areas (MPAs) to ensure the use of marine resources in the medium term.
- Promoting the economic well-being and improving the quality of life of local populations.
The Mesoamerican Reef Conservation project is focused on the reef shared by Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras.
Achievements
Since 2015, 34 projects have been approved that have strengthened local MPA communities in monitoring, coral restoration, good practices in tourism, solid and liquid waste management, climate change, and participatory MPA management, among others.
In the first half of 2022, three subprojects corresponding to the 13th call of the MAR Fund Small Grants Program were completed. Amigos de Isla Contoy rescued and safeguarded coral species susceptible to tissue loss disease. Centinelas del Agua established a network to monitor water quality and raised awareness among almost 500 people about the importance of karst aquifers in the Yum Balam flora and fauna protection area. In turn, Comunidad y Biodiversidad trained 13 agents of change in conservation, governance, and sustainable fishing and 20 fishermen in the use of the PescaData application to record sustainable fishing practices.
Allies
Donors:
- Fonds Français pour l'Environnement Mondial
- KfW Development Bank
- The Summit Foundation
Partners:
- Comisión Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas
- Mesoamerican Reef Fund