Given its role as a regional institution that coordinates and raises funds, MAR Fund relies in a special way on the founding members from each country to provide oversight, monitoring, and evaluation of the beneficiary entities. The existing national funds, with very few exceptions, have the skills and capacity to carry out these functions adequately.
It is a private non-profit institution founded in 1994 that collaborates with other actors and sectors through strategic technical and financial support to sustain Mexico’s natural heritage. Through the mobilization of financial resources, the creation of alliances, and capacity building, for more than 30 years FMCN has worked to conserve, restore, and sustainably manage natural resources.
Its work is made possible through a network of alliances comprising communities, all three levels of government, the private sector, academia, civil society, and donors. Its mission is to Sustain our natural heritage and its vision is to Recover and maintain the health of our ecosystems and landscapes.
Although small in geography and population, Belize is immensely blessed with natural wonders. Recognizing the importance of its national heritage, Belize began establishing its protected areas system in the 1960s.
PACT provides funds to support conservation and promote the environmentally sound management of Belize’s natural and cultural resources, with the aim of fostering sustainable development. PACT grants funding for projects and training scholarships for protected area management, conservation, promotion and development, environmental education and awareness, and community development around protected areas. Since its establishment in 1996, PACT has invested more than US$50 million in Belize’s protected areas.
It was established in 2000 and has managed nearly US$4 million through its varied structure of small grants, sub-accounts, and microcredits to support initiatives related to environmental laws and policies, protected areas, and the sustainable use of natural resources, among others. It also manages US$24 million of the Tropical Forest Conservation Fund, the result of a debt-for-nature swap with the United States.
The six staff members, temporary consultants, and external evaluators of FCG administer, monitor, and evaluate projects in accordance with its general objective of promoting biodiversity conservation, sustainable use of natural resources, environmental management, and climate change adaptation and mitigation.
Established in 2003, Fundación Biósfera has administered and provided technical support to various projects under the Small Grants Program funded by MAR Fund, aimed at co-managing organizations of protected areas in the marine-coastal zone of Honduras. It has also been part of the Marine Resource Conservation Project in Central America I and II. Likewise, strategic technical support and assistance in proposal formulation have been provided to at least 10 organizations for their applications to calls for proposals, contributing to the strengthening of their institutional capacities and improving their access to funding opportunities.
As a founding member of MAR Fund, Fundación Biósfera actively participates in all activities of the Board of Directors, the Investment Committee, and the Governance Committee, including bi-annual meetings, review of various documents, planning processes, and targeted support in actions related to project implementation in Honduras.
Photo: Martin Leglize
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.
