Overview of Long-Term Financing Mechanisms for MPAs.

MedPAN Forum –Antalya –November 2012
Overview of Long-Term Financing
Mechanisms for MPAs
Barry Spergel
Lawyer and Environmental Financing Consultant
Email: [email protected]
Slide # 1
Valorization of marine resources
exploitation
By collecting Fees and payments for:
• Energy (offshore oil and gas) and mining
• Commercial fishing and aquaculture
Potentially also by fees or payments for:
• “Blue carbon” (sequestration by sea grass)
• Bio-prospecting
Slide # 2
3 basic requirements
• It’s only possible to collect fees or payments
if the resource exploitation occurs inside a
country’s EEZ, not in international waters
• There be national or local laws or regulations
that require payment of a fee or royalty
• The law or regulation should specifically
“earmark” (require) part or all of the fee or
payment to go to the MPA, not just into
general government revenues.
Slide # 3
Fees and royalty payments for oil & gas
The US Land and Water Conservation Fund
has raised $9 billion over the last 40 years
from auctions of offshore oil and gas leases,
which is used entirely to support national
parks and state parks in the US.
Slide # 4
Fines and Compensation for Oil Spills
For Oil Spill in Alaska, Exxon ordered to pay:
• $150 million criminal fine, of which $12 million went to the
North American Wetlands Conservation Fund
• $100 million fine for injuries to fish & wildlife, paid to
US federal & Alaska state wildlife protection agencies
• $360 million for long-term funding of Ecosystem Monitoring
& Research Program
• $540 million for long-term habitat protection by purchasing
private land to become protected areas
For Oil Spill in Gulf of Mexico, BP ordered to pay:
• $2.4 billion to National Fish and Wildlife Foundation,
as part of $4 billion fine & settlement
Slide # 5
Fishing-related Payments and Fees
• South Pacific island countries receive more
than $70 million/year from the US, and
additional amounts through bilateral
agreements with Japan, China, Korea, Taiwan,
for access to tuna fisheries
• Mauritania and Guinea Bissau recently agreed
that revenues from EU fisheries access
agreements will go into PA trust funds
Slide # 6
Namibia’s Fisheries Fund
• Namibia collects a fish catch levy (an amount
per ton that varies by species) which goes
into a Fisheries Fund managed by an
independent Board composed of
representatives from government, industry,
and scientists
• This pays for 100% of the costs of scientific
management of fishing stocks, including the
enforcement of “no catch” zones, and
conservation measures
Slide # 7
New Zealand Fishing-related Fees
• All commercial fishing companies must pay a
Fisheries Services Levy = approx. 3% of
value of catch, which is used for research and
conservation of fishery resources
• They must also pay a 0.15% to 1.75%
Conservation Services Levy based on the
average amount of accidental by-catch of
threatened marine mammals and birds, and
is used for conservation of those species
Slide # 8
Aquaculture Fees
• Various US coastal states, Canadian and
Australian provinces, and New Zealand’s
national government, collect license fees and
lease fees (charged per hectare) for
commercial aquaculture. The money goes
into special trust funds for research,
enforcement and conservation, and in some
cases may benefit MPAs.
Slide # 9
Taxes on fishing equipment and fuel
The US Aquatic Resources Trust Fund raises
$400 million/year for conserving coastal
wetlands through:
• a 10% excise tax on fishing rods and other
recreational fishing equipment
• Import duties on pleasure boats and
yachts
• Tax on motorboat fuel ($.04/liter)
Slide # 10
Tourism/Recreational Fees
• MPA entry fees : Croatia, Cinque Terre card,
Galapagos ($125/person: 90% goes to NP)
• Recreational fishing license fees (Spain)
• Scuba diving fees : Egypt in the Red Sea,
Palau, Bonaire, Indonesia, Philippines
• Boat mooring fees: Australia’s Great Barrier
Reef NP, British Virgin Islands, Fiji
• Hotel taxes: Caribbean islands, Hong Kong,
Kenya, Majorca (but later cancelled)
Slide # 11
Other tourism-related revenue
• Income from tourism-related businesses
owned and operated by PA management
agencies: Cinque Terre, Brijuni NP (Croatia)
• Payments for recreational activities and
concessions inside protected areas
• Airport Fees and Cruise ship passenger fees:
earmarked for PAs in Belize, Cook Islands,
Galapagos
Slide # 12
Fees at Australia’s Great Barrier Reef NP
• Each visitor must pay a $5.50/day
“Environmental Management Charge” to
the Great Barrier Reef PA Management
Authority, but the fee is collected by boat &
tour operators
• Additional fees for:
– Operators of marinas, stores, restaurants
– Sewage Discharge
Slide # 13
Fees for undersea pipelines & cables
• The US requires companies laying undersea
fiber optic cables that pass through MPAs to
pay fees of $40,000 to $100,000 per mile
• Brazil requires that 1% of the cost of any new
construction inside of a PA (including oil and
gas pipelines, telecommunications towers
and cables) must be paid to that specific PA
as “environmental compensation”
Slide # 14
Property Taxes
• A local government in Washington state (US)
collects an extra 1% real estate tax that is
earmarked for a coastal conservation fund
• In France, individuals can donate land to the
Conservatoire du Littorale in lieu of paying
inheritance taxes, and land donations during
a person’s lifetime are also tax deductible up
to 50% of a person’s income tax liability. In
this way, the Conservatoire has acquired
70,000 hectares of coastal land at 500 sites
since 1978
Slide # 15
Biodiversity Offsets and
Environmental Impact Fees
• Rio Tinto’s biodiversity offset for a coastal PA
in Madagascar that will be impacted by
mining
• Brazil’s Environmental Compensation Law
• Other fees and charges to compensate or
offset environmental impacts of new coastal
construction and development
Slide # 16
Fines that go to support MPAs
• Fines for illegal fishing, and sales of
confiscated fish, boats and equipment
• Compensation for damage from oil spills
• Fines for industrial and agricultural pollution
of coastal waters
Slide # 17
Debt Swaps that benefited MPAs
• Italy-Egypt Debt for Environment Swap was
used partly to support MPAs in the Red Sea
• French and German bilateral debt swaps with
Madagascar used to support the national PA
system including creation of new MPAs
• Debt swap under the US Tropical Forest
Conservation Act used to support mangrove
conservation in the Philippines
Slide # 18
Regional Conservation Trust Funds
that support MPA networks
• Meso-American Reef Fund (MAR Fund):
€ 11 million endowment (from KfW & FFEM)
• Caribbean Biodiversity Fund (for 8 countries):
$40 million endowment from KfW, GEF, TNC
• Dutch Caribbean Nature Alliance Trust Fund
• Micronesia Conservation Trust:
$12 million endowment (from Pacific countries
and matching funds from TNC & CI)
Slide # 19