Cada año se publica una convocatoria dirigida a organizaciones e instituciones interesadas en implementar proyectos en uno o más países del SAM. Actualmente, las propuestas pueden presentarse a dos ventanas financieras:
Photo: Roxana Chávez
The Small Grants Program (SGP) is one of MAR Fund’s most longstanding and flexible financing mechanisms, in operation since 2006. Its design has enabled the advancement of strategic projects for the conservation and sustainable use of resources in the Mesoamerican Reef System (MRS), thanks to its adaptability to regional challenges.
Calls for proposals
Projects funded
Implementing partners
hectares conserved in protected areas
Cada año se publica una convocatoria dirigida a organizaciones e instituciones interesadas en implementar proyectos en uno o más países del SAM. Actualmente, las propuestas pueden presentarse a dos ventanas financieras:
Amount and Duration:
Up to US$50,000, with a maximum duration of 2 years.
Areas of Focus:
18 specific areas of the Mesoamerican Reef System.
Amount and Duration:
Up to US$30,000, with a maximum duration of 2 years.
Areas of Focus:
All coral reefs in the MAR.
Eligibility depends on the current call. The following entities legally registered in one of the four MRS countries may apply:
All proposals go through a rigorous evaluation process. They are reviewed and recommended according to technical and impact criteria by an External Technical Committee made up of international experts. Subsequently, the MAR Fund Board of Directors grants final approval to the recommended projects.
Funds are granted through a Grant Agreement and each project follows the MAR Fund management and monitoring cycle, which ensures transparency, efficiency, and sustainability in the use of resources (see Project Cycle Manual).
Note: Objectives, specific conditions, and eligible geographic areas may vary. We invite you to consult the guidelines of the current call.
Proposal submission period: July 15 to September 9, 2025.
Currently, the received proposals are under review.
Proyecto: Implementation of reef-friendly refillable hubs and Trash Blitz waste audits in coastal communities and marine protected areas of Belize.
Objetivo: Reduce single-use plastic pollution in specific coastal communities and secondary schools near marine protected areas, driving community conservation actions and applying citizen science to establish an empirical baseline on plastic consumption and pollution as a reference for environmentally responsible practices in the public sector.
Proyecto: Strengthening local governance and community economy through sustainable ventures in the Manatee Sanctuary State Reserve of Chetumal Bay (RESMBCH) and its area of influence.
Objetivo: Contribute to strengthening local governance and community economy of cooperatives and communities in the Manatee Sanctuary State Reserve of Chetumal Bay (RESMBCH) and its area of influence, through the development of sustainable ventures with a regenerative business model based on efficient use of water and marine resources.
Proyecto: Regional management plan for the Nassau grouper fishery and spawning aggregation sites in Mexico.
Objetivo: Develop and implement a regional management plan for the sustainable fishery of Nassau grouper (Epinephelus striatus) in the Mexican Caribbean, through assessment of fishery status and condition of spawning aggregation sites (FSAs) at El Blanquizal and Niche Habin, over two years, with active participation of fishing communities and scientific monitoring, to ensure population viability and FSA protection.
Proyecto: Resilient Yum Balam Flora and Fauna Protection Area: Training community change agents for conservation.
Objetivo: By 2026, establish a group of change agents (men, women, and youth) in Holbox and Chiquilá with technical-administrative capacities and soft skills to generate information that guides decision-making and manage projects that allow them to contribute autonomously to the conservation of the Yum Balam Flora and Fauna Protection Area.
Proyecto: Conservation of the Manatee Sanctuary State Reserve through the strengthening of sustainable tourism practices.
Objetivo: Promote the conservation and use of coastal and aquatic ecosystems in the Manatee Sanctuary protected area, through the participation of community venture groups and visitor awareness of the ecological importance of these habitats and the application of good sustainable practices that enable quality services and minimize negative impacts on the ecosystems that support emblematic Antillean manatee populations.
Proyecto: Integrating seagrass meadows into MRS conservation strategies.
Objetivo: Advance management and conservation efforts of the Mesoamerican Reef System through the development of condition indicators for seagrass meadows in reef lagoons and local capacity building.
Proyecto: Coral genetic conservation: Ensuring diversity for reef restoration in the Honduran Caribbean.
Objetivo: Strengthen the resilience of coral reefs in the Honduran Caribbean through the identification of genetic variability of three coral species (Acropora palmata, Agaricia tenuifolia y Orbicella faveolata), over a period of two years, to support restoration and conservation initiatives in the region.
Proyecto: Coral restoration in the Akumal reef habitat (ARPEA), Quintana Roo, Mexico – V.
Objetivo: Increase the restoration area of the Akumal coral reef and the ecosystem services it provides, through the implementation of novel coral dispersal techniques engaging the community, private sector, and civil associations, measuring progress through evaluation and monitoring over one year.
Proyecto: Comprehensive ecological restoration of coral reefs on Cozumel Island.
Objetivo: Consolidate in one year comprehensive reef restoration efforts with Acroporid corals in Cozumel, using two intervention techniques, active and passive, involving the private tourism sector to promote ecosystem resilience.
Proyecto: Protected Beaches on the Conservation Coast: Developing a New Ecotourism Site for the Financial Sustainability of the Río Sarstún Multiple Use Area.
Objetivo: By 2025, FUNDAECO will have integrated the La Guaira-Cocolí Coastal Nature Reserve into its Conservation Coast Ecotourism Site Network to contribute to the financial sustainability of management and protection activities in the Río Sarstún Protected Area.
Proyecto: Communities improve the Río Sarstún and protect the forest with climate resilience actions.
Objetivo: By end of 2027, natural resource governance practices, environmental sanitation, local ventures, and climate change resilience strategies ensure the protection of 415 hectares of tropical forest in the Río Sarstún Multiple Use Area and an improvement in community living conditions. (Includes the 385 hectares from previous projects).
Proyecto: Implementation of strategies for the management and conservation of the influence zone and reef in the Cayos Cochinos Marine Natural Monument.
Objetivo: By 2026, key actors in the management of the protected area will implement three participatory strategic lines to improve the health status of Cayos Cochinos reefs and at least one river in the area of influence.
Proyecto: Reducing water stress in the community of West End.
Objetivo: By 2026, improvements in integrated aquifer management in the community of West End will have begun through the implementation of a comprehensive approach that reduces risks of damage to groundwater supply sources.
Proyecto: Strengthening fishing cooperatives of the Yum Balam Flora and Fauna Protection Area in integrated water management of Laguna Yalahau.
Objetivo: Strengthen the capacities of fishing cooperatives in integrated water management for the product certification process. As well as obtain a binding analysis of water quality and microplastics in Rainwater Harvesting Systems, Laguna Yalahau, and coastal marine sites in three annual seasons (dry, rainy, nortes).
Proyecto: Strengthening financial resilience for the benefit of youth and women in fishing communities.
Objetivo: By 2025, the capacities of 20 women and youth will have been strengthened in financial, digital, and ocean literacy, with the aim of developing marine conservation and sustainable fisheries projects in federal Natural Protected Areas (NPAs) of the Mexican Caribbean.
To read periodic updates on these projects,
we invite you to visit the Updates section
Elisa Blanda
Small Grants Program Officer
eblanda@marfund.org
Próximamente.
Foto: Photo: Fundación Albatros
Taller inicial de la 2ª. convocatoria
Del 1 al 3 de julio de 2025, se llevó a cabo en Ciudad de Guatemala el Taller Inicial para los proyectos seleccionados en la segunda convocatoria del proyecto «Protección de los Recursos Marítimos en América Central III (Fase III)”, una iniciativa financiada por la Cooperación Alemana a través del KfW, en el marco del programa Salvando Nuestras Áreas Protegidas de MAR Fund.
Durante tres días, 31 representantes técnicos y administrativos de 16 áreas protegidas marino costeras de México, Belice, Guatemala y Honduras se reunieron para fortalecer capacidades, intercambiar experiencias y alinear estrategias para una implementación efectiva y coordinada de sus proyectos.
También participaron organizaciones de sociedad civil que acompañarán la ejecución de estos proyectos.