MODEL

X-ray of an MPpAs

MARINE PROSPERITY AREAS (MPpAs)

The MPpAs framework guides the practical implementation of this concept, using standardized methodologies to drive positive change and strengthen resource protection. Its purpose is to generate gradual social, economic, and cultural benefits for communities through enhanced marine conservation.

SUSTAINABLE FINANCING (Cross-cutting Strategy)

This strategy is essential for securing the long-term funding and investment needed to support the entire network. It involves engaging stakeholders dedicated to financing. Although it is the most challenging pillar, it is critical for ensuring that interventions can be effectively implemented, and sustained over time.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND CO-DESIGN

The focus is on mobilizing the community and key stakeholders to collaboratively define prosperity and co-design strategies for the sustainable use of marine resources.

CAPACITY BUILDING, GOVERNANCE, AND INFRASTRUCTURE

The goal is to establish the essential building blocks—investing in leadership training for community members, strengthening governance systems, and developing the necessary physical infrastructure.

MONITORING, ENFORCEMENT, AND CO-MANAGEMENT

This phase ensures the effective implementation of a collaborative and adaptive management framework. This is achieved through rigorous enforcement of conservation regulations and continuous monitoring of ecological and socioeconomic indicators.

Full ecosystem recovery takes years to materialize, and the assumption that Marine Protected Areas alone can improve human well-being is often contradicted by socioeconomic realities.

PILLARS OF INTERVENTION

The Marine Prosperity Areas (MPpAs) framework is built around nine Pillars of Intervention—key areas of support designed to drive socioeconomic change while aligning local development with ecological conservation goals.

COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION

Active and meaningful involvement of local communities across all stages of the design, implementation, and evaluation of actions within a Marine Prosperity Area. This means recognizing their rights, traditional knowledge, and priorities, ensuring that decision-making reflects their interests and strengthens their capacity for self-determination and empowerment.

SOCIAL WELL-BEING

A condition in which individuals and communities attain sustainable levels of economic security, health, education, and social cohesion, while maintaining a balanced relationship with marine ecosystem conservation. Within Marine Prosperity Areas, social well-being is understood as an outcome directly linked to ecological restoration and the development of equitable economic opportunities.

STRATEGIC ALLIANCES

Collaborative partnerships among communities, academia, government, civil organizations, and the private sector, built around shared objectives to strengthen capacities, share resources, and generate measurable impacts in conservation and sustainable development.

CONSERVATION LEADERSHIP

The capacity of individuals, communities, and organizations to guide, inspire, and coordinate actions that safeguard marine and coastal biodiversity, promoting solutions rooted in science, equity, and meaningful local participation. Conservation leadership acts as a driving force for positive change, from the local level to the broader regional scale.

ROBUST GOVERNANCE

A transparent, inclusive, and accountable decision-making system that clearly defines responsibilities, coordination mechanisms, and legal or regulatory frameworks that ensure the sustainability of actions over time.

SUSTAINABLE FINANCING

A set of financial mechanisms that ensure long-term resources for the operation, monitoring, and strengthening of MPpAs. It includes various sources such as public funds, private investments, environmental compensation mechanisms, or income derived from sustainable economic activities.

COLLABORATIVE MANAGEMENT

A shared management model in which multiple stakeholders— including local communities—participate in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of strategies, recognizing that shared responsibility strengthens both the effectiveness and the legitimacy of decisions.

EFFECTIVE IMPLEMENTATION

Ability to translate strategic plans into concrete actions with verifiable results. Requires inter-institutional coordination, goal achievement, efficient use of resources, and continuous adaptation to new challenges or learnings.

CONTINUOUS MONITORING

A systematic and ongoing process of collecting and analyzing ecological, social, and economic data that allows for evaluating progress toward the area's objectives, adjusting strategies, and ensuring transparency and collective learning over time.

Aligning ecological restoration with human well-being requires a systemic approach that addresses key points of influence—known as the Pillars of Intervention—which are essential for ensuring the long-term sustainability of marine ecosystems and the socioeconomic prosperity of the communities that depend on them.

GRADUAL PROSPERITY BETWEEN SOCIETIES AND ECOSYSTEMS

True human prosperity depends on meeting fundamental needs—food, water, shelter, and community—while ensuring access to education and the continued growth of knowledge that strengthens a shared sense of environmental stewardship and symbiosis. Prosperity can be assessed and measured using existing frameworks that encompass multiple dimensions of human well-being, including economic, health, political, educational, social capital, and cultural domains.

MARINE BIODIVERSITY RECOVERY

Marine life recovery occurs through progressive stages. It begins with minimal recovery, when species and ecosystems start to rebound, then advances through partial and moderate recovery stages, and ultimately reaches full ecological restoration and long-term resilience.