WASHINGTON, Dec. 09, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The Bezos Earth Fund today announced $24.5 million in grants to help park rangers, coastal communities, and local organizations protect key marine areas across the Eastern Tropical Pacific. The new funding will improve on-the-water safety and planning, expand community-led protection in nursery habitats, and strengthen the science used to guide conservation decisions in Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, and Ecuador.
These grants nearly double the Earth Fund’s total investment in the region to more than $60 million. Since 2021, the four countries have designated more than 154,000 square miles (400,000 km²) of new marine protected areas, nearly tripling regional protection.
Panama, Costa Rica, and Colombia have each protected more than 30 percent of their national waters, and Ecuador has expanded protections across critical offshore and coastal zones. Together, they are working to connect protected areas across borders to build one of the world’s largest coordinated marine conservation efforts.
“These waters are home to endangered turtles, schools of tuna, and the only places on Earth where hammerhead sharks still gather in the thousands. We’re seeing that when communities are equipped with the right tools, they protect these species – and the ocean comes back to life,” said Tom Taylor, President and CEO of the Bezos Earth Fund. “That’s what this investment from the Bezos Earth Fund is about: supporting the people who do the work and giving nature the chance to thrive.”
The new grants will help patrol teams plan their work more effectively and use reliable information to guide day-to-day decisions. Many protected areas in the region are remote and difficult to monitor, and park rangers often rely on limited data when assessing where to focus their time. The grants will provide training and practical tools that help them work more safely on the water and coordinate efforts across borders.
“With the support of partners like the Bezos Earth Fund, Panama has strengthened the protection of Coiba National Park in close collaboration with local communities. We have already safeguarded more than half of our marine territory and reaffirmed our commitment to ocean conservation,” said Juan Carlos Navarro, Minister of Environment of Panama. “Our work goes beyond borders. Together with Costa Rica, Colombia, and Ecuador, we are advancing the Eastern Tropical Pacific Marine Corridor as the world’s first cross-border Marine Biosphere Reserve of its kind – a clear demonstration that lasting conservation is achievable when nations join forces.”
Many of the region’s most important species begin life in coastal mangroves, estuaries, and sheltered bays and later migrate through offshore corridors that span national borders. The grants will help community organizations protect and manage these nursery areas and will also strengthen the long-term monitoring needed to understand how sharks, sea turtles, whales, and other species move across the region. This work includes tracking migration routes, integrating those data into government planning tools, and building on research already underway, such as more than 1,200 underwater camera deployments and environmental DNA sampling to monitor biodiversity trends.
Long-term protection depends on reliable funding that helps communities and agencies care for these areas year after year. Part of the new investment will support locally led financing models in coastal nurseries, and this work builds on recent progress across the region.
Here is a closer look at the grants supporting this work:
Safeguarding Coastal Nurseries | A $13.85 million grant to Re:wild will support local and regional organizations, including Fondo Acción in Colombia, ANCON in Panama, and Krucial in Ecuador, to support the creation of new coastal reserves, strengthen existing ones in nursery zones where marine life begins, and secure long-term financing so protections last.
Understanding Migratory Species | A $1 million grant to MigraMar will expand long-term monitoring of sharks, turtles, whales, and tuna across the region. By understanding where species travel and gather, scientists and managers can make better decisions about where protections are needed and how wildlife is recovering.
Smarter Patrol Planning | A $4 million grant to Global Fishing Watch will help patrol teams work more safely and effectively by giving them access to reliable satellite information and easy-to-use planning tools. Training across all four countries will help officers use this information in real time so they can focus their time on the water where it matters most.
Defending Protected Waters | A $5.65 million grant to WildAid will provide park rangers with the equipment and hands-on training that make their daily work safer and more efficient. The support will help teams navigate remote areas with greater confidence and ensure they have what they need to care for their waters over the long term.
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- Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) map
- Hammerhead Sharks