Fundación PACÍFICO is opening a call for organizations with experience in the Tropical Eastern Pacific to design tools and a roadmap that integrate climate change into the management of marine protected areas. Deadline: September 20, 2025. Download the Terms of Reference here.
The call is aimed at organizations or entities with at least five years of experience in related projects in the Tropical Eastern Pacific region, and with a multidisciplinary technical team (marine ecology, oceanography, data science, coastal management/governance, and science communication).
This is a consultancy funded by the Spanish Cooperation Agency (AECID), lasting up to 14 months, to design a climate-smart management framework to guide decision-making in the core marine protected areas of the Tropical Eastern Pacific Marine Corridor (CMAR).
Climate change is already altering water temperature, acidification, sea level, and extreme events, posing risks to biodiversity and coastal livelihoods. This project seeks concrete responses to integrate those impacts into the management of CMAR’s core marine protected areas.
The CMAR is a regional initiative that connects core areas such as Galápagos, Hermandad, Isla del Coco, Bicentenario, Malpelo, Gorgona, Yuruparí-Malpelo, Lomas y Colinas, Coiba, and Cordillera de Coiba, forming contiguous, transnational marine protected surfaces. The consultancy is framed by a Memorandum of Understandingbetween CMAR and Fundación PACÍFICO and is funded by AECID. The broader project aims to contribute to climate change adaptation through research, awareness-raising, and governance to strengthen management and conservation decision-making.
One organization will be contracted to design a management framework with climate-smart tools to support decisions in CMAR’s core MPAs under future scenarios. The work includes assessing oceanographic conditions from 1997–2050, modeling habitat changes for key species, and agreeing on a regional roadmap to incorporate results into management plans and fisheries.
Among other products, the consultancy is expected to deliver: a high-resolution spatial database with daily variation (1997–2050) of 21 oceanographic parameters and an open visualization/analysis package; indicators and dynamic habitat models (through 2050) for species such as whale shark, scalloped hammerhead, yellowfin tuna, humpback whale, and green turtle, including modeling based on MITgcm and publication of the resulting layers; two regional workshops with authorities, scientists, and users; an assessment of modeling practices in MPAs; a climate-smart management framework with a technical report; and a technical guide for spatial management in MPAs.
In alliance with CMAR and with support from AECID, Fundación PACÍFICO is implementing the project “Strengthening Sustainable Governance and Climate Change Adaptation in the CMAR,” whose purpose is to advance adaptation through knowledge generation, awareness-raising, and governance structures that improve decision-making for management and conservation. This consultancy contributes directly to that strategic objective.
How to apply.
Submit a letter of interest in PDF and in Spanish (maximum 1 page), a technical proposal (methodology, work plan, and regional coordination), a financial proposal in USD itemized by activity, an institutional summary, CVs of team members, and at least one letter of reference. Send to coordinador@redpacifico.net with the subject line “Consultoría Modelo Climático” by September 20, 2025 at 23:59 (UTC-5). More information is available in the downloadable Terms of Reference here.