• MAR Fund Programs
• Community Fisheries
• Small Grants Program

MAR Fund Programs

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1. Marine and Coastal Protected Area Network

The region has identified sixty-three marine and coastal protected areas. Each of these is critical in its own way for preserving specific habitats, species, and coral formations, allowing them to prosper through controlled use and access to the protected area. Safe-guarding them requires hiring officers to enforce their protected status, purchasing equipment to mitigate biophysical threats, conducting research, and monitoring and evaluating the health of the protected area.

Stakeholders in the region and the MAR Fund identified 14 MPA’s listed below as high priority areas with the most urgent needs:

Corozal Bay Wildlife Sanctuary Payne’s Creek National Park Port Honduras Marine Reserve South Water Caye Marine Reserve	Belize Belize Belize Belize
Punta de Manabique Wildlife Refute Río Sarstún Multiple Use Area	Guatemala Guatemala
Bahía de Chetumal Manatee Sanctuary Yum Balam Flora and Fauna Protection Area Banco Chinchorro National Park Arrecifes de Xcalak National Park	Honduras Honduras Honduras Honduras
Bahía de Chetumal Manatee Sanctuary Yum Balam Flora and Fauna Protection Area Banco Chinchorro National Park Arrecifes de Xcalak National Park	Mexico Mexico Mexico Mexico

2. Community Fisheries Program

The objective of this program is to work closely with the fishing communities that depend on the MAR region for their subsistence. The challenge of this program is to empower fishermen to take control of their future by involving them into sustainable fisheries management as an immediate and urgent conservation priority for the MAR. This program aims to maintain these fisheries so that it is both economically and ecologically viable.

3. Small Grants Program

The MAR Fund Small Grants Program is focused on the protection, recovery and conservation of the Marine Protected Areas and better resource management practices. Once a year, governmental and non-governmental organizations, academy, fishing associations and stakeholders of these areas of the four countries from the MAR region, are able to submit proposals. The proposals must respond to the specific objectives established for each request for proposals.