Bezos Earth Fund commits $24.5 million to Eastern Pacific

Bezos Earth Fund, the philanthropy organisation backed by Amazon boss Jeff Bezos, has announced some $24.5 million of new grants to help park rangers, coastal communities and local organizations protect marine areas across the Eastern Tropical Pacific.

The grants nearly double the Earth Fund’s total investment in the region to more than $60 million, the fund said in an announcement, and they follow the designation of more than 154,000 square miles (400,000 km²) of new marine protected areas since 2021.

The funding is expected to 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.

Many protected areas are remote and park rangers often rely on limited data, so the grants will provide training, practical tools and cross-border coordination, the fund noted.

“These waters are home to endangered turtles, schools of tuna, and the only places on Earth where hammerhead sharks still gather in the thousands," said said Tom Taylor, the fund's CEO.

"We’re seeing that when communities are equipped with the right tools, they protect these species – and the ocean comes back to life.”

The funding package includes $13.85 million to Re:wild for coastal reserves and long-term financing, $1 million to MigraMar for migratory species monitoring, $4 million to Global Fishing Watch for patrol planning tools, and $5.65 million to WildAid for ranger equipment and training.

Part of the investment is earmarked for locally led financing models in coastal nurseries and the expansion of long-term biodiversity monitoring, including underwater camera deployments and environmental DNA sampling across the region.

The recap

• Bezos Earth Fund announces $24.5 million in regional grants
• Safeguarding Coastal Nurseries receives $13.85 million to Re:wild
• Funds will expand monitoring and patrol planning across four countries