SarTec (United States)

MPAs around the world are often limited by insufficient financial resources for enforcement, monitoring, and other activities. One of the greatest challenges to financial sustainability is often limited financial expertise, or financial capacity, among practitioners. Financial capacity is important for daily activities such as budgeting and management of financial resources to ensure that available funds are effectively deployed, as well as to implement new financial mechanisms to supplement income. Peer-to-peer learning where knowledge is shared among fellow MPA practitioners and experts can be an effective way of sharing knowledge on subjects such as financial sustainability. We hosted a knowledge sharing session at IMPAC5 in February 2023 that brought MPAConnect members, sustainable MPA financing advisors including from Grant Thornton’s Impact House, and MPA managers and funders from Belize, Honduras, and Costa Rica. Drawing upon their insights and expertise, we review crosscutting topics that we propose as crucial levers for improving financial sustainability; diversifying income and innovating MPA mechanisms, strengthening internal financial capacity, leveraging partnerships to support financial sustainability, and aligning policies to remove barriers to entry. This paper is intended to: (i) provide a review of the discussion for practitioners who could not attend the IMPAC5 session in person, (ii) offer an in-depth exploration of the strategies and lessons presented, and (iii) inspire further research and action to drive the field of MPA finance forward. In addition to the main subjects, we emphasize the importance of proper planning – including financial planning – and managing expectations when pursuing new financial mechanisms.

The integrated fluorescence of murine eyes is collected as a function of age. This fluorescence is attributed to pigments generally referred to as lipofuscin and is observed to increase with age. No difference in fluorescence intensity is observed between the eyes of males or females. This work provides a benchmark for further studies that are planned in order to use such signatures as markers of central nervous system (CNS) tissue or even of diseased CNS tissue and provides a basis for determining the age of a healthy animal.