The Mesoamerican Reef Fund (MAR Fund) is a non-profit corporation created by four environmental funds from México, Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras, as a financial mechanism for conservation and adequate resource use in the Mesoamerican Reef Ecoregion. This new conservation finance mechanism is unique in that it is the first environmental fund in the Western Hemisphere that transcends the national boundaries of four countries to encompass an entire “ecoregion”. Conservation and management of this region involves the understanding that conservation efforts should be planned and implemented beyond national boundaries.
The mission of the MAR Fund is to inspire innovative, transnational solutions to critical Mesoamerican reef issues through providing meaningful, long-term financial support and trustworthy reef management advice so that future generations can enjoy and benefit from a thriving reef system.
To do so, the MAR Fund operates as an ecoregional planning and coordinating body which prioritizes projects and allocates funding, while relying on the pre-existing technical, administrative, and financial capabilities of the four founding funds to execute the Fund’s strategic priorities on the ground. The Mesoamerican Reef Fund aspires to be known and respected as a trustworthy and transparent fund raising sensation able to sustain and finance effective transnational alliances, policies, and practices that conserve the Mesoamerican reef and advance the health and well-being of the region’s people.
The MAR Fund raises funds for the following program areas: 
- Saving our Sanctuaries: A Legacy of Caring. This program supports the establishment and protection of an interconnected network of the coastal and marine protected areas in the region.
- Fishing for the Future - Sustainable Fisheries for a Thriving Reef Community: participation in co-management of their fisheries are supported through this initiative.
The MAR Fund focuses on the Mesoamerican Reef Ecoregion (MAR). They define the ecoregion as the area extending almost 1,000 km from the northern tip of Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula to the Bay Islands/Cochinos Cays complex off the northern coast of Honduras. The coastal/marine portion of the ecoregion ranges from about 40 km off the northern coast of the Mexican state of Quintana Roo to about 240 km from the Gulf of Honduras, and 50 km off the north coast of Honduras at the mouth of the Aguán River. The MAR also includes the Caribbean watersheds of those four countries, clearly establishing a ridge-to-reef approach to conservation in the ecoregion.
To learn more about the MAR fund, please visit their website.
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