In March 2021, Amílcar Guzmán and Viviana Luján from Wolfs Company joined a conversation with MPA News on Marine Protected Area (MPA) financing. The interview elaborates on Wolfs Company’s experience with MPAConnect, The MedFund and its contributions to two extensive reports on Conservation Trust Funds (The 2020 Global Review and The 2020 Practice Standards for CTFs), among others.

Dozens of nations have already committed to protecting 30% of their waters by 2030. The UN Convention on Biological Diversity is expected to adopt that same target later this year. With current MPA coverage at 7.65% of the world ocean, a global 30×30 goal would require quadrupling MPA coverage in the next 10 years.

Where will the funding come from for all these new MPAs? MPA finance is already in need of improvement, with many of today’s MPAs suffering from inadequate budget support and income. Improving the financial picture may not be easy. The jargon and tools of the financial sector amount to a foreign language to many MPA managers.

Based on their experience, Guzmán and Luján believe there is reason for optimism about the future of MPA finance. They jointly answered the following questions via email.