Panama, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Colombia received a donation of US$16 million from the Council of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) to support the conservation of the East Tropical Pacific Marine Corridor (CMAR) and to work regionally on the conservation and protection of this important marine corridor.

The Tropical East Pacific Marine Conservation Corridor is a regional conservation and sustainable use initiative, which seeks to adapt the management of biodiversity and coastal marine resources, through ecosystem management, and the establishment of joint regional government strategies.

With this donation from the GEF, the next phase for the conservation of the Tropical Eastern Pacific (POT), focused on the long-term protection of more than 30 million hectares of ocean, will begin.

The program will prioritize cross-border cooperation through the strengthening of regional governance, the coordination and growth of investments in the blue economy in the tourism and fishing industries, the consolidation of protected areas and the development of regional connectivity to better conserve highly migratory species and support collaborative management throughout the region.

Each country has committed to protecting 30% of its waters and for two decades Panama, Colombia, Ecuador and Costa Rica, along with their local and global partners, have worked together to achieve ambitious conservation objectives. With this funding, the commitment is even more recognized and will help to improve the collaboration already underway,” said Carlos Manuel Rodríguez, executive director of the GEF.