Marine Ecosystem Services (MARES) Program

Summary

The Marine Ecosystem Services (MARES) Program aims to protect crucial marine ecosystem services by harnessing markets and private sector investment, in order to complement conventional coastal and marine management and safeguard human well-being.

MARES targets the following four main objectives in promoting its overall goal of protecting marine ecosystem services:

1. developing a solid foundation of understanding of marine ecosystem services and their economic value;
2. elaborating best practices for the conservation of those services;
3. communicating information about ecosystem services and the potential to effectively and efficiently protect them, in order to raise awareness and generate political will; and
4. helping to build a community of practice for marine payment of ecosystem services (PES) and other innovative financing mechanisms.