San Andrés, Colombia – April 4, 2025
CMAR Experience Shared as Regional Example During Peer Exchange on MPA Monitoring, Control and Surveillance
During the Latin America Large Scale Marine Protected Area (LSMPA) Enforcement Peer Learning Exchange, held from March 31 to April 4, 2025, in San Andrés, Colombia, representatives from nine Latin American countries gathered to share experiences, strengthen partnerships, and explore solutions to enhance monitoring, control, surveillance, and enforcement in large marine protected areas (MPAs). Participants came from Colombia, Costa Rica, Panama, Ecuador, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Chile, Uruguay, and Brazil.
During the regional experiences panel, the Technical Secretary of the Eastern Tropical Pacific Marine Corridor (CMAR) presented regional efforts and shared the current experience with the development of the project: Strengthening Monitoring, Control and Surveillance in the CMAR, implemented by Fundación Pacífico with the support of its co-executing partners: the Joint Analytical Cell (JAC), WildAid, and OceanMind (in its first phase). This initiative has assisted in improving regional coordination, use of technology, and operational capacity across different parts of the Marine Corridor, through actions such as the implementation of the JAC’s Technical Help Desk.
As part of this project, the JAC — a collaborative initiative among organizations such as IMCS Network, Global Fishing Watch, TMT, Skylight, and C4ADS — presented how it is supporting CMAR countries through the Technical Help Desk, which serves as a channel for assistance, offering analytical support, training and capacity building, and operational support before, during, and after patrols. The presentation showcased cases of regional collaboration, including the use of satellite data, AIS, and other sources of information to identify vessels of interest and activities within MPAs.
Global Fishing Watch and Skylight also shared their individual contributions in technology-focused sessions, where participants discussed opportunities, challenges, and solutions for applying their platforms in national contexts.
The event, convened by Blue Nature Alliance and WildAid, was hosted locally by CORALINA. It concluded with a call to continue strengthening cooperation and to develop national monitoring and enforcement plans — or ‘Sail Plans’ — based on shared learning and the use of emerging technologies.
These kinds of exchanges reinforce the importance of multilevel collaboration to tackle shared challenges and ensure the effective protection of Latin America’s marine ecosystems, while also strengthening the commitment of involved actors to continue working together across the region.