Bezos Earth Fund Pledges $24.5 Million to Create World’s First Cross-Border Marine Biosphere Reserve
The Bezos Earth Fund, the world’s largest climate-focused philanthropy, has announced $24.5 million in new grants to safeguard marine ecosystems spanning Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, and Ecuador — a move that could lead to the creation of the planet’s first cross-border marine biosphere reserve.
Protecting a Vital Marine Corridor
The four grants will support local communities and conservation organisations working to preserve key coastal and oceanic habitats in one of the world’s most biodiverse marine corridors. The largest of these grants — $13.85 million — will go to the conservation group Re:wild to strengthen protected areas and establish nursery zones for hammerhead sharks, sea turtles, and other marine species.
“This is an incredibly important area for the migration of species,” said Cristian Samper, the Bezos Earth Fund’s head of nature. “The only way you can protect this place is by doing it in a transboundary way.”
Over the past two years, the four participating countries have tripled their combined marine protected zones to more than 600,000 square kilometres across 10 designated areas. The next step, according to Samper, is to unite these zones into a single biosphere reserve — the first of its kind anywhere in the world.
A Global Push Toward the 30×30 Goal
The initiative is part of the Bezos Earth Fund’s broader commitment to allocate $1 billion toward achieving the global “30×30” target — protecting 30% of the planet’s land and oceans by 2030. The project falls under the Protecting Our Planet Challenge, a collaboration between 11 major philanthropies pledging a collective $5 billion for conservation efforts.
So far, the Bezos Earth Fund has deployed nearly $700 million, while the broader coalition has disbursed more than $3 billion toward that goal. Samper said the Fund is also exploring a new biosphere reserve in the Pacific Ocean that could span an area five times the size of the continental United States.
Looking Ahead: Expanding Ocean Protection
To further support Pacific marine conservation, the Bezos Earth Fund has committed $100 million to help implement the global biodiversity framework and is expected to announce a second round of grants in 2026.
“In terms of moving the needle towards 30 by 30, this is exactly the sort of work you need to do,” Samper said.
The new grants highlight a growing emphasis on regional cooperation to protect marine life across political borders — an approach conservationists say is essential for maintaining healthy ocean ecosystems in the face of climate change and industrial pressures.
with inputs from Reuters
