4.10 Funding

1. MCA Field Guide: English | Spanish
2. MCA Field Guide Checklist
3. Phase 4: Implementation Checklist
4. 4.1 Administration accounted for
5. 4.2 Planning initiated
6. 4.3 Outreach planned and begun
7. 4.4 Science program established
8. 4.5 Enforcement needs assessed and met
9. 4.6 Public uses promoted and managed
10. 4.7 Livelihoods identified
11. 4.8 Habitat management needs realized
12. 4.9 Maintenance identified and scheduled
13. 4.10 Funding needs assessed and acquired for the long-term

Months 6-12 Actions: Successful Marine Conservation Agreements (MCAs) will need long-term funding sources. Within 6-12 months of the start of implementation activities for the MCA project, if long-term funding for the MCA has not already been acquired and the agreement appears to be going well, the implementer should begin developing a strategy to find long-term funding and prepare to renegotiate the MCA. Although annual costs may decrease as the start-up, design and capacity-building activities conclude, most MCAs will require sustainable long-term financing to cover ongoing implementation actions.

As illustrated below in the funding scenarios aid1, MCA implementers can develop a detailed, long-term financial needs plan by considering at least three different funding scenarios (status quo, minimal, and optimal) for expense categories related to each implementation action. Funding sources can then be explored for each action, groups of actions, or for the total management program. MCA implementers should be creative in developing sustainable funding sources, potentially combining options to meet the total recurrent needs. Ideas for financing are identified below.

• Create an endowed trust fund such that MCA costs are covered by the interest yield on the endowment capital. This option is the most straightforward and stable.
• Harness an ecosystem service payment market (e.g., carbon sequestration, watershed protection).
• Convince a business to cover recurrent costs as an offset, (i.e., protection in compensation to the global community for damage they do elsewhere).
• Find a product that can be produced by a local stakeholder, for which a company is willing to pay a “green” or sustainable production price premium based on compliance with the MCA.
• Help communities develop and market a product which provides ongoing benefits, but for which some part of the marketing chain is managed by the lead conservation organization so that benefits remain contingent on satisfying the conditions of the MCA.
• Provide up-front support for income generation in exchange for long-term commitment to use that income to cover MCA costs.

Funding Scenarios Aid

Helpful Financial Planning Tools

Programs and guides are available to help organizations plan for the sustainable funding of long-term, site-specific marine conservation activities. While it is not within the scope of this toolkit to assess and provide access to all such programs and guides, three examples are included below:

• Financing Marine Conservation: The World Wildlife Fund developed this guide which presents a menu of over 30 options for financing the conservation of marine biodiversity both within and outside of MPAs.
• MPA Financial Management Tool: The Conservation and Community Investment Forum developed the MPA Financial Management Tool primarily to help field practitioners determine the financial needs of marine protected area networks. While some MCA projects may involve MPAs and MPA networks, this financial management tool can likely assist MCA implementers in determining the long-term, financial needs of MCA projects.
• Property Analysis Record (PAR): PAR was developed by the Center for Natural Lands Management, Inc., primarily for terrestrial areas, however, it can serve as a guide to help MCA implementers think about and plan for the long-term financial needs of ocean and coastal sites.
• Guidebook of Financial Tools: Paying for Sustainable Environmental Systems: The US EPA created this reference document to help agencies and organizations find the means of financing environmental protection initiatives.

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