IMPAC5: A symposium on financing MPAs facilitated by BlueSeeds and its partners
IMPAC5: A symposium on financing MPAs facilitated by BlueSeeds and its partners
The 5th International Marine Protected Areas Congress (IMPAC5) will take place from the 3rd to the 9th of February 2023 in Vancouver, Canada. This global forum will bring together ocean conservation professionals and high-level officials to inform, inspire and act on marine protected areas.
BlueSeeds’ president and founder Thomas Binet and director of operations Marie-Aude Sévin will attend the congress to facilitate a symposium with partners.
90-min. symposium
Sustainable Financing of MPAs
Diversification and Scaling-up of Sustainable Financing Solutions to Close the Marine Conservation Financing Gap
Date: February 6, 2023
Location: Room 220-222
Financing marine protected areas is central for the sustainability of marine conservation actions, as stated in target 19 of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. During this symposium, BlueSeeds et several stakeholders will present their innovative solutions to diversify and replicate complementary funding approaches to reduce the huge funding gap. These funding solutions are intended to be, and should remain, complementary to the main funding of MPAs coming from governments. The symposium will be divided into three parts:
We will introduce the symposium by talking about the current obstacles to conservation funding and the importance of sustainable financing to achieve the objectives of biological conservation set in the various management plans and international objectives.
Each speaker will present their financing solution, the multiple challenges they face, from political issues to difficulties in bringing the finance and conservation worlds together, and how they are addressing those challenges. Speakers will share their long-term vision, the scale-up potential of their solutions, and how these can be articulated with others to make conservation finance more resilient to better address the climate crisis and the loss of biodiversity. There will be a question-and-answer moment for each specific project. The solutions introduced in the symposium will be:
- Importance of national and site-level strategies to foster a diversified MPA financing mix;
- Empowerment of MPA managers to implement and run self-financing mechanisms;
- Public-Private Partnership to manage bankable marine conservation projects;
- Conservation Trust Fund as a long-term tool to cover MPA recurrent costs;
- Feedback from a Mediterranean MPA: importance of a diversified portfolio of incomes at site-level to achieve conservation objectives.
In conclusion, a roundtable discussion will tackle:
- How to combine these solutions at local/national level to provide a resilient set of funding opportunities to MPAs and marine conservation stakeholders;
- The need to think about conservation finance beyond the geographic boundaries of MPAs.
About IMPAC5
IMPAC5 presents an opportunity for marine protected area professionals from around the world to chart a course towards protecting 30% of the ocean by 2030. Congress participants will share their knowledge and best practices for future ocean protection and engagement in five thematic areas with three topic streams woven throughout.
The five themes of IMPAC5 are:
- Building a global marine protected area network
- Advancing conservation in the blue economy
- Actively managing marine protected areas and human activity
- Conserving biodiversity and addressing the climate crisis
- Connecting ocean culture and human well-being
IMPAC5 is expected to be the largest in the congress series to date with a goal of attracting 3000 in-person attendees as well as 1000 virtual participants. The Congress will feature dynamic keynote speakers, interactive in-person and virtual sessions plus arts and culture elements. Participants will gather to develop actions to address marine biodiversity decline and the climate crisis while creating solutions for a blue economy.
