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Tourism-Related Financing Mechanisms for Marine Protected Areas - International Trends and Case Studies

Elizabeth Halpenny

University of Waterloo, WATERLOO, CANADA

Theme: TH3

Marine protected areas (MPAs) around the world lack adequate funding to fulfill their basic mandate, i.e. biodiversity conservation, as well as additional goals such as fisheries management and provision of tourism settings. Tourism's ability to bring additional funding to MPAs through fee and related revenue-generation mechanism may be part of the solution to the funding challenges experienced by MPAs. However, fulfilling this promise it is not an easy process. This contribution describes what individual countries and MPAs are doing to generate revenue through tourisms' presence in MPAs. A comparison of entrance fees and related tourism-generation tools will be highlighted, and data from more than 35 countries presented. Trends in tourism-related MPA funding initiatives in Belize, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Bonaire will be highlighted, with special emphasis on the challenges associated with establishing and increasing fee systems in MPAs. The role of stakeholders, participatory processes and the development of revenue management mechanism, such as conservation trust funds, will also be described.