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SUSTAINABLE FINANCING OF MPAs IN THE MEDITERRANEAN: A FINANCIAL ANALYSIS

3 ASSESSMENT OF MPA FINANCIAL NEEDS FOR

OPTIMAL MANAGEMENT AT THE SITE LEVEL

KEY POINTS:
The Mediterranean MPAs studied show an average level of available finances of
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€18,449 per km , human resources being the main cost item. This is high compared with
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other regions; for instance the LAC region invests €171 per km per year on average in
terrestrial and aquatic PAs: observations from a sample of 20 Mediterranean MPAs show
differences in the total financing available for MPAs between European Union and non-EU
countries: EU MPAs have higher total financing than non-EU MPAs.
Looking at costs per unit surface area, operating costs ranged from €591 to €66,632 per
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km during the last financial year for autonomous MPAs and from 0 to €10,783 per km
during the last financial year for pioneer MPAs. Investment shows fewer variations between
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autonomous and pioneer MPAs: annual investments range from 0 to €15,026 per km per
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year for MPAs in the autonomous phase and from 0 to €2,696 per km per year for MPAs
in the pioneer phase.
Financial difference between autonomous and pioneer MPAs can be explained by
differences in management needs and funding structures: governmental budgets
(local, regional and national sources) are the main sources of financing for MPAs. Pioneer
MPAs present a lower diversity of financing in comparison with autonomous MPAs. This
result highlights the lesser financial autonomy of pioneer MPAs in comparison with
autonomous MPAs. Also, a larger portion of international and private funds is observed
for pioneer MPAs.
Human resources are the principal operating cost item: salaries in most MPAs
represent over 50% of operating costs. With regard to human resources, 86% of MPA
managers declared that current MPA financing does not cover 100% of their needs
to bring management up to an effective level. These insufficient revenues for effective
management are more prominent in non-EU countries

For the studied MPAs, estimated creation costs ranged from €29,930 to €50,075 in
total. The average total costs of creation of Mediterranean MPAs amounts to €42,600.
As demonstrated, creation costs are not correlated to the size of the MPA, but heavily
rely on the duration of the creation phase of the MPA: the longer the period, the higher
the creation costs.

This chapter presents the findings of the local analysis on the sample of MPAs. Financial
data for the year 2014 was extracted either from the projected budget or from the actual
budget of selected MPAs at the local level, when available. The findings of this chapter
primarily highlight the financial situation of representative MPAs: it focuses on quantitative
assessment of the resource needs of individual MPAs, as well as the main funding sources
and identification of the most important financing actions. It then provides a detailed
assessment of MPA financial needs based on the cost of core management activities.

May 2015 – Vertigo Lab, for MedPAN, RAC/SPA and WWF Med. Page 39