The Bezos Earth Fund will issue $24.5 million in grants to help protect key marine areas in Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, and Ecuador. The grants will go to organizations supporting the countries’ joint effort to protect their national waters.
“We have already safeguarded more than half of our marine territory and reaffirmed our commitment to ocean conservation,” said Juan Carlos Navarro, Minister of Environment of Panama. “Our work goes beyond borders. Together with Costa Rica, Colombia, and Ecuador, we are advancing the Eastern Tropical Pacific Marine Corridor as the world’s first cross-border Marine Biosphere Reserve of its kind – a clear demonstration that lasting conservation is achievable when nations join forces.”
The grants will be applied to:
Safeguarding Coastal Nurseries | A $13.85 million grant to Re:wild will support local and regional organizations, including Fondo Acción in Colombia, ANCON in Panama, and Krucial in Ecuador, to support the creation of new coastal reserves, strengthen existing ones in nursery zones where marine life begins, and secure long-term financing so protections last.
Understanding Migratory Species | A $1 million grant to MigraMar will expand long-term monitoring of sharks, turtles, whales, and tuna across the region. By understanding where species travel and gather, scientists and managers can make better decisions about where protections are needed and how wildlife is recovering.
Smarter Patrol Planning | A $4 million grant to Global Fishing Watch will help patrol teams work more safely and effectively by giving them access to reliable satellite information and easy-to-use planning tools. Training across all four countries will help officers use this information in real time so they can focus their time on the water where it matters most.
Defending Protected Waters | A $5.65 million grant to WildAid will provide park rangers with the equipment and hands-on training that make their daily work safer and more efficient. The support will help teams navigate remote areas with greater confidence and ensure they have what they need to care for their waters over the long term.
Many of the region’s most important species begin life in coastal mangroves, estuaries, and sheltered bays and later migrate through offshore corridors that span national borders. The grants will help community organizations protect and manage these nursery areas and will also strengthen the long-term monitoring needed to understand how sharks, sea turtles, whales, and other species move across the region. This work includes tracking migration routes, integrating those data into government planning tools, and building on research already underway, such as more than 1,200 underwater camera deployments and environmental DNA sampling to monitor biodiversity trends.
“These waters are home to endangered turtles, schools of tuna, and the only places on Earth where hammerhead sharks still gather in the thousands. We’re seeing that when communities are equipped with the right tools, they protect these species – and the ocean comes back to life,” said Tom Taylor, President and CEO of the Bezos Earth Fund. “That’s what this investment from the Bezos Earth Fund is about: supporting the people who do the work and giving nature the chance to thrive.”
In September the fund announced $37.5 million in grants to 12 countries and territories across the Pacific, part of the Bezos Earth Fund’s $100 million commitment to support Pacific Island nations and territories in safeguarding their ocean.
