MPAs are marine environments preserved from human interference: fishing, mining exploration, coastal development, navigation and other activities that disturb marine life. MPAs offer numerous advantages for the global ecosystem, including:
This is why the Foundation has promoted the setting up of MPAs across the globe: in Ponto Ouro in Mozambique, the Koh Rong Archipelago in Cambodia, the Toliara Reef Complex in Madagascar, the Helen Reef Atoll in Palau and also the Pelagos Sanctuary, the largest protected area in the Mediterranean.
The Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) not only preserve the marine ecosystem and conserve its biodiversity, they also contribute to their valorisation by assuring the sustainable economic development of local communities.
It was with a view to improve the management of Mediterranean MPAs and to contribute to their financial autonomy and their territorial integration, that the Foundation took the initiative, in collaboration with the Government of the Principality of Monaco, France and Tunisia, to create the Trust Fund for MPAs in the Mediterranean.
The aim of the Trust Fund is to take action in the Mediterranean eco-region focusing on its eastern and southern shores in particular.
Through the Trust Fund, the Foundation aims at:
The Trust Fund could make it possible to exceed the Aichi Biodiversity Target of 10% coastal and marine areas being conserved through protected area systems by 2020. It will also considerably increase the efficiency of MPAs, which are considered to be one of the most viable models in a global vision of harmony between the environment and local populations.
