Progress report for
Blue Action Fund
Achievement at a glance
The non-profit foundation Blue Action Fund today has three government funding partners Germany, through the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) in cooperation with KfW Development Bank; Sweden, through the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs; and France, through the Agence Franaise de Dveloppement (AFD). In addition, the Board of the Green Climate Fund in November 2019 has approved a major contribution which is currently being formalized.In response to the clear need for additional financing for ocean protection, the Fund is designed to take advantage of the rigour associated with public donors combined with the implementation skills of recognised NGOs. It is a flexible funding tool that selects projects through open Calls for Proposals, which are appraised and selected with the support of IUCN. In its short lifetime, Blue Action Fund has developed into a leading funding instrument for marine conservation. Key achievements since the start of operations in 2017 include:
Successful launch of the programme and grants awarded to projects in Asia, Africa and Latin America
Three Calls for Proposals targeting Small Island Developing States, the Western Indian Ocean and East Asian Seas attracting dozens of project proposals
Supporting nine projects in execution, collectively benefiting 235,000 people and over 195,000 km2 of new or improved MPAs
Expanding from one to three public funders; the contributions of an additional multilateral funder, the Green Climate Fund, is currently being formalized
Increasing available funding from 24 million to 93 million; German contribution through BMZ: 80 million; the Board of the Green Climate Fund has approved to provide an additional amount of 30 million
Beneficiaries
Blue Action Funds programme is premised on the belief that NGOs play an essential role in marine conservation. It is designed to support projects proposed by NGOs through contributions ranging from 1 million to 3 million. To ensure ownership and increase synergies with other efforts, the grantees must fund a significant part of the total project costs.
The projects funded benefit local coastal populations, support local, national and regional marine conservation strategies, and are all endorsed by the relevant government authorities.
Blue Action Fund launched several open calls for proposals focusing on Small Island Developing States the Western Indian Ocean and the East Asian Seas. So far, nine grant agreements have been signed. Several new grant agreements for projects from the East Asian Seas call are expected to be signed in 2019/2020. Updated information about the programme can be found at https://www.blueactionfund.org/programme-3/