- Representatives of KfW German bank and Pacífico Foundation member environmental funds signed an agreement on June 17 for a project to conserve migratory marine species and the sustainable use of fishery resources.
A new Pacifico Foundation project will benefit 11 Marine Protected Areas of the Eastern Tropical Pacific (PET), promoting the conservation of migratory marine species and the sustainable use of fishery resources, through a €10 million agreement of cooperation funds from the German bank KfW.
The agreement was formalized on June 17, 2022 at the end of KfW’s evaluation mission with directors and technical staff of the four environmental funds that constitute Pacífico Foundation.
The meetings were attended by KfW’s Head of Division, Jens Mackensen, and Portfolio Manager, Vanessa Hartmann; as well as the President of Pacifico Foundation and Executive Director of Fundación Natura, Rosa Montañez, the Executive Director of Fondo Acción, Natalia Arango, the Executive Director of Forever Costa Rica, Katy de la Garza, and the Executive Director of Fundación Patrimonio Natural, Alberto Galán, as well as technical staff.
The Eastern Tropical Pacific is a vitally important marine region shared by Costa Rica, Colombia, Panama and Ecuador, where Cocos Island (Costa Rica), the Galapagos Islands (Ecuador), Coiba Island (Panama), Malpelo Island (Colombia) and Gorgona Island (Colombia) are located.
Located at the connection of Central and South America, the PET covers approximately 2 million square kilometers.
In this way, the new regional project aims to conserve migratory marine species such as sharks and rays, sea turtles, whales and dolphins. It also seeks the sustainable use of fishery resources such as tuna and goldfish.
The KfW mission positively assessed the technical feasibility of the project for subsequent approval by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
The project for the protection of the Eastern Tropical Pacific is expected to start implementation during 2023.