A different conservation approach was lately conceived by TNC. It looks towards an eco-regional scale where the reference framework to make decisions shift from political borders to ecological ones, covering common geographical, climate and natural features.

The Nature Conservancy, through MAR Program and local partners, is identifying and developing conservation actions to preserve priority sites which represent the whole eco-regional diversity (considering plants, animals and habitats).

The set of identified sites in the Mesoamerican region will contribute to design a master plan. The designed plan will guide decisions on management and protection at short and long term as well as to be a marine conservation model at global level.

These sites identification will be based on their capacity to maintain ecological integrity in spite of external pressures, including fishing activities, contamination and different phenomena like El Niño and global warming.

Once they have been identified MAR Program expects to set up (with these resilient sites) a Marine Protected Area Network with restocking capacity among its components and with the entire reef.

A large number of protected areas are to be designed surrounding many spawning aggregation sites (locations where fish gather seasonally to breed).

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