Introduction
The Belize Fund for a Sustainable Future, commonly called the Belize Fund, is a private conservation trust fund that provides long-term financing for marine conservation, climate adaptation, scientific research and sustainable blue-economy development in Belize.
The Fund was formally established on 8 March 2022 as the sustainable financing mechanism connected to the Belize Blue Bonds for Ocean Conservation. It manages conservation payments generated through the Blue Bonds arrangement and distributes funding to government agencies, nonprofit organizations, universities, community groups and eligible private businesses working to protect Belize’s coastal and marine resources.
The Belize Fund was not founded by a single individual, family or private company. It developed through the partnership between the Government of Belize and The Nature Conservancy, which completed a major debt conversion for marine conservation in November 2021. The Fund was subsequently created as an independent institution to manage and invest the conservation financing generated through that agreement.
The organization is a genuine grantmaking donor rather than only a project implementer. Its Grants Award Program supports scientific research, biodiversity conservation, sustainable fisheries, climate resilience and blue business innovation throughout Belize.
History and Background
Belize Blue Bonds Agreement
The origins of the Belize Fund are connected to the Belize Blue Bonds for Ocean Conservation, a debt-for-nature financing agreement completed in 2021.
Under the transaction, Belize obtained financing that enabled it to repurchase approximately US$553 million of external commercial debt at a substantial discount. The debt conversion reduced the country’s outstanding debt and created an estimated US$180 million, equivalent to approximately BZ$360 million, in long-term conservation financing over 20 years.
In exchange for the financial benefits of the transaction, Belize committed to major marine-conservation actions, including expanding ocean protection, developing a national marine spatial plan and strengthening the management of marine and coastal resources.
Establishment of the Belize Fund
The Belize Fund was incorporated on 8 March 2022 to receive, manage and distribute the conservation payments generated through the Blue Bonds agreement.
Its establishment created an independent financing institution capable of:
- Managing conservation payments.
- Awarding grants to non-government organizations.
- Allocating strategic funding to the Government of Belize.
- Monitoring projects and conservation commitments.
- Building a long-term conservation endowment.
- Mobilizing additional funding beyond the original Blue Bonds arrangement.
The Fund appointed Dr. Leandra Cho-Ricketts as its first Executive Director in August 2022. Her appointment supported the development of the organization’s operational systems, long-term strategies, grant programs and institutional partnerships.
Development of the Grantmaking Program
The first Grants Award Program Call for Proposals opened in December 2022. Subsequent annual funding cycles were launched in 2023, 2024 and 2025.
The Fund normally opens its annual Call for Proposals in August and invites eligible organizations to submit concept papers. The application process generally progresses from concept screening to the development and assessment of a full proposal.
Since its establishment, the Belize Fund has expanded from a new Blue Bonds financing mechanism into a national conservation donor supporting marine research, community stewardship, fisheries management, climate adaptation and blue businesses.
Mission and Purpose
The Belize Fund’s vision is to provide financing in perpetuity for a vibrant and resilient blue economy in Belize.
Its mission is to establish a transparent and inclusive financing mechanism that successfully mobilizes investment for the conservation and responsible development of Belize’s marine and coastal resources.
The Fund’s institutional values include:
- Excellence
- Transparency
- Accountability
- Collaboration
- Inclusiveness
Strategic Purpose
The Belize Fund seeks to ensure that conservation financing produces long-term environmental, economic and community benefits.
Its work is intended to:
- Protect marine biodiversity.
- Strengthen the management of marine protected areas.
- Promote sustainable fisheries.
- Restore and conserve mangroves, coral reefs and seagrass.
- Improve the climate resilience of coastal communities.
- Create sustainable employment and livelihoods.
- Encourage responsible blue businesses.
- Support scientific research and data collection.
- Help Belize meet its national and international conservation commitments.
Strategic Plan 2024–2027
The Belize Fund’s Strategic Plan 2024–2027 is organized around four principal institutional pillars.
- Strengthening institutional capacity: Building professional teams, governance systems, financial controls and modern operational processes.
- Expanding funding opportunities: Mobilizing conservation finance from sources beyond the Belize Blue Bonds.
- Implementing effective grantmaking: Providing accessible and results-focused grants for conservation, fisheries, climate resilience and blue innovation.
- Building strategic partnerships: Working with government, communities, universities, donors, businesses and international conservation organizations.
Progress is monitored through a monitoring and evaluation framework designed to improve transparency, accountability and adaptive management.
Governance and Structure
The Belize Fund is governed by an independent nine-member Board of Directors. Five directors represent non-government interests, giving non-government stakeholders a majority, while four members represent the Government of Belize.
The governance model is intended to prevent control by any single institution and ensure that government, conservation organizations, academic institutions, community interests and private-sector stakeholders participate in decision-making.
Board Representation
Institutions represented within the original governance structure have included:
- The Nature Conservancy
- Ministry responsible for the blue economy
- Ministry responsible for sustainable development and climate change
- Ministry responsible for economic development
- Belize Tourism Industry Association
- Belize Fisheries Council
- University of Belize
- Belize Network of NGOs
- A bipartisan political representative
Board members provide strategic oversight, approve grants and allocations, monitor financial management and ensure that the Fund complies with its conservation and fiduciary responsibilities.
Executive Management
The Executive Director is responsible for implementing the Fund’s strategy and managing its daily operations.
Executive and technical responsibilities include:
- Developing annual work plans.
- Managing the Grants Award Program.
- Coordinating government allocations.
- Monitoring funded projects.
- Managing staff and operational systems.
- Building donor and partner relationships.
- Reporting on conservation financing and impact.
- Ensuring compliance with financial and grantmaking policies.
The Belize Fund also maintains policies covering ethics, whistleblower protection, gender mainstreaming, anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing. These policies support accountability and responsible management of conservation funds.
Ownership and Institutional Status
The Belize Fund is not privately owned in the same way as a commercial company. It does not have shareholders who receive profits or dividends.
It is an independent nonprofit conservation trust fund created to manage resources for public environmental and development purposes. Its funding must be used to advance marine conservation, responsible coastal development and Belize’s Blue Bonds commitments.
The Government of Belize participates in its governance and receives strategic allocations, but the non-government majority on the Board helps preserve the Fund’s independence.
Funding and Grants
The Belize Fund receives its principal financing through conservation payments generated under the Belize Blue Bonds agreement.
Approximately BZ$360 million is expected to be mobilized over the 20-year financing period. The Fund also seeks to attract grants, donations, investments and partnerships from development agencies, foundations, businesses and international conservation institutions.
The Belize Fund administers two principal funding mechanisms:
- Grants Award Program
- Government Strategic Allocation
Grants Award Program
The Grants Award Program, or GAP, provides competitive grants to non-government entities implementing marine and coastal projects in Belize.
Approximately 40% of the annual conservation payments, estimated at BZ$3.2 million per year, is allocated to the Grants Award Program.
The Fund provides small, medium and large grants through annual Calls for Proposals. Specific funding ceilings, co-financing requirements and implementation periods may change between funding cycles.
Eligible Applicants
Eligible organizations may include:
- Non-governmental organizations
- Community-based organizations
- Universities and colleges
- High schools
- Local associations
- Registered private companies
- Research institutions
- Other legally registered Belizean entities working toward the Fund’s mission
Applicants must generally be legally registered, have operated in Belize for at least one year and demonstrate sound project and financial-management capacity. Newly established organizations may apply through an eligible intermediary with appropriate administrative and fiduciary systems.
Individuals are not eligible to receive grants directly. Government agencies may participate when the proposed activity is not covered by the Government Strategic Allocation or when the agency serves as a junior co-applicant with an eligible non-government organization.
Private-Sector Applicants
Registered private companies may apply for funding when their proposed projects produce measurable environmental and livelihood benefits.
Private businesses are generally required to provide one-to-one co-financing, which may consist of cash, in-kind resources or a combination of both.
This provision makes the program relevant to blue businesses working in areas such as:
- Sustainable aquaculture
- Seaweed farming
- Coastal tourism
- Marine waste management
- Renewable energy
- Sustainable fisheries
- Recycling and circular-economy enterprises
Eligible Project Costs
The Belize Fund may support:
- Project personnel
- Scientific research
- Equipment and technology
- Community consultations
- Training and capacity building
- Field activities
- Monitoring and evaluation
- Travel connected to project delivery
- Planning and feasibility activities
- Administrative costs
Administrative and overhead expenditure may represent no more than 10% of the overall project budget. The Fund may cover full salaries for newly created project-specific positions, while different limitations apply to existing and administrative staff.
The Fund also accepts planning-grant applications and cash or in-kind co-financing.
Government Strategic Allocation
At least 40% of annual conservation financing, estimated at BZ$3.2 million annually, is allocated to Government of Belize programs through the Government Strategic Allocation, or GSA.
GSA financing helps government institutions fulfil the conservation commitments established under the Blue Loan Agreement.
These commitments include:
- Expanding biodiversity protection zones.
- Protecting public mangrove areas.
- Preparing a national Marine Spatial Plan.
- Implementing the Integrated Coastal Zone Management Plan.
- Developing management plans for protected areas.
- Submitting marine protected areas for the IUCN Green List.
- Completing and implementing national ocean-planning commitments.
Unlike GAP funding, the GSA is not an open competition for NGOs. It is a strategic funding mechanism for approved government programs connected to the Blue Bonds conservation milestones.
Major Programs and Initiatives
Protection for Biodiversity
The biodiversity theme supports projects that conserve marine species, ecosystems and protected areas.
Priority interventions may include:
- Marine protected-area management.
- No-take zones.
- Coral-reef conservation.
- Mangrove protection.
- Seagrass restoration.
- Protection of threatened species.
- Enforcement and surveillance.
- Marine scientific research.
- Biodiversity monitoring.
The objective is to prevent biodiversity loss and maintain healthy marine ecosystems that support communities, fisheries and tourism.
Sustainable Fisheries
The sustainable fisheries theme supports responsible fishing from harvesting through processing and sale.
Projects may address:
- Fisheries monitoring.
- Fish-stock recovery.
- Enforcement and compliance.
- Fisher leadership.
- Sustainable seafood value chains.
- Alternative livelihoods.
- Community fisheries management.
- Development of new sustainable fisheries.
- Research on commercially important marine species.
Climate Resilience
Climate-resilience funding helps marine ecosystems and coastal communities prepare for and adapt to climate change.
Projects may support:
- Mangrove and coastal restoration.
- Nature-based adaptation.
- Coastal erosion research.
- Climate-resilient livelihoods.
- Disaster preparedness.
- Community safety.
- Green employment.
- Climate-resilient value chains.
- Protection of natural coastal defences.
Blue Business Innovation
Blue Business Innovation supports enterprises that combine commercial activity with marine conservation and responsible resource use.
Relevant sectors include:
- Sustainable fisheries
- Aquaculture
- Seaweed production
- Coastal tourism
- Marine transportation
- Renewable energy
- Waste recycling
- Circular-economy products
Projects must contribute positively to marine ecosystems and community livelihoods rather than focusing only on commercial profit.
Marine Spatial Planning
The Belize Sustainable Ocean Plan is the country’s national framework for marine spatial planning.
The process seeks to balance biodiversity protection with fishing, tourism, transportation, coastal development and other uses of Belize’s ocean. The Belize Fund helps finance work connected to the plan through the Government Strategic Allocation and related partnerships.
Strategic Partnerships
The Fund develops partnerships to expand financing and technical expertise.
Its collaboration with the Development Finance Corporation seeks to create new financing mechanisms for climate adaptation and blue-economy enterprises. The five-year partnership covers joint financial solutions, stakeholder engagement, capacity building and knowledge sharing.
The Belize Fund also became a member of the Latin American and Caribbean Network of Environmental Funds, known as RedLAC, in 2024. This membership provides access to regional expertise, conservation-finance networks and partnership opportunities.
Impact and Examples of Work Funded
By April 2025, the Belize Fund reported approving nearly BZ$12 million, equivalent to approximately US$6 million, in conservation grants. It also reported training hundreds of Belizeans, supporting local employment and engaging more than 48 communities. These are organization-reported results.
In May 2026, the Fund announced an additional BZ$643,292.12 in funding through its fourth awards cycle for projects strengthening fisheries, coastal livelihoods and blue businesses.
Plastic Pollution and Circular Economy
Humana People to People Belize received BZ$515,860 for the Full Circle Belize project.
The initiative seeks to:
- Educate 150 young people and adults.
- Engage approximately 1,200 students.
- Reduce plastic waste entering the marine environment.
- Transform recovered plastic into useful products.
- Create income and business opportunities linked to recycling.
Coastal Resilience and Mangrove Protection
World Wildlife Fund Mesoamerica received BZ$397,375.60 for a project promoting mangrove protection, restoration and nature-based approaches to coastal development.
The project works across coastal communities, marine protected areas and mangrove landscapes to strengthen ecological and community resilience.
Marine Protected-Area Enforcement
The Southern Environmental Association received BZ$750,000 to improve science and enforcement in Gladden Spit and Silk Cayes Marine Reserve and Laughing Bird Caye National Park.
The project supports stronger conservation management, monitoring and protection of important marine ecosystems and species.
Protection of Fish-Spawning Sites
The Toledo Institute for Development and Environment received approximately BZ$696,598 for the protection of commercially important species and fish-spawning aggregation sites in the Sapodilla Cayes Marine Reserve.
The initiative seeks to strengthen legal protection, biodiversity monitoring and management of important spawning areas, including the Cayman Crown site.
Marine Citizen Science
The Environmental Conservation Organization received BZ$139,225 to use citizen science to identify resilient coral reefs, biodiversity hotspots and potential marine conservation areas across Belize’s seascape.
The project helps expand locally generated scientific information that can guide reef management and climate-adaptation decisions.
Seaweed Mariculture
Blue Nutrients Belize Limited received BZ$149,740 to develop a self-financing and sustainable seaweed industry.
The project supports the expansion of seaweed farming, improved production practices, value-added products, employment creation and sustainable income for coastal communities.
Coastal Erosion Research
The National Garifuna Council received BZ$150,000 for a coastal-erosion study in Barranco Village.
The research is intended to improve understanding of erosion risks and provide evidence for future coastal protection and adaptation measures.
Community Grants
The Belize Fund has introduced smaller community grants to make funding more accessible to grassroots organizations.
Examples include:
- BZ$75,000 for the Chunox Fishermen’s Association.
- BZ$75,000 for community management around the Three Lagoons System.
- BZ$69,100 for shark-fisher monitoring.
- BZ$74,960 for creative marine-stewardship education.
These grants help community organizations build administrative capacity, monitor natural resources, educate young people and participate directly in coastal conservation.
Understanding the Fund’s Impact
The Belize Fund measures impact through conservation results, institutional capacity, community participation and economic benefits.
Important indicators may include:
- Area of ocean placed under protection.
- Improvements in marine protected-area management.
- Number of people trained.
- New or improved sustainable livelihoods.
- Scientific datasets produced.
- Marine species and habitats monitored.
- Businesses and jobs supported.
- Communities participating in conservation.
- Progress toward Blue Bonds commitments.
Some funded projects are still under implementation. Expected results should therefore be distinguished from completed and independently verified impact.
Conclusion
The Belize Fund for a Sustainable Future is one of Belize’s most important conservation financing institutions.
Established in March 2022 following the Belize Blue Bonds debt conversion, the Fund manages long-term financing for marine biodiversity, sustainable fisheries, climate resilience, scientific research and blue business innovation.
Its independent nine-member Board, non-government majority and dedicated accountability policies provide a governance structure intended to protect conservation resources and ensure transparent decision-making.
Through the Grants Award Program, the Fund supports NGOs, universities, community organizations, schools and eligible businesses. Through the Government Strategic Allocation, it finances national conservation commitments, including ocean protection and marine spatial planning.
The Fund’s investment in coral reefs, mangroves, fisheries, seaweed farming, plastic recycling, coastal research and community stewardship demonstrates how sustainable finance can connect environmental protection with employment, resilience and local economic development.
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