This year, Coast Funds signed a memorandum of understanding to deliver ongoing financial and administrative services for the Marine Plan Partnership for the North Pacific Coast (MaPP), which includes 17 First Nations and the Province of British Columbia.

MaPP is a successful co-governance model that supports First Nations and the Province to develop and implement marine use plans that guide stewardship and commercial activity in Nations’ marine territories along the North Pacific Coast.

Importantly, this agreement brings the financial administration of the MaPP program together with the Great Bear Sea project finance for permanence (PFP) initiative, which is led by First Nations in the same area. On June 25, 2024, leaders from participating First Nations joined representatives from BC and Canada to announce the successful close of the Great Bear Sea PFP, which secures $335 million for marine stewardship and economic development, including ongoing implementation of MaPP programming for the next 20 years.

“MaPP’s decision to partner with Coast Funds is a significant step toward embracing integrated approaches to multiple marine stewardship initiatives in the region. This partnership moves us forward on reconciliation through Coast Funds’ model of Indigenous-led conservation financing,” says Xaad xyaalaa Christine Smith-Martin, CEO, Coastal First Nations-Great Bear Initiative, a MaPP partner organization.

Through this new agreement, Coast Funds will support MaPP partners with fund administration, values-aligned investment management, and financial reporting, helping MaPP partners and staff to focus on collaborative marine stewardship. MaPP will continue to operate as an independent collaboration, with partners working together to carry out programming and make decisions.  

“At Coast Funds, we’re inspired by the work of MaPP partners, who have built a strong foundation for supporting marine stewardship and sustainable economic development in coastal communities,” says Eddy Adra, CEO, Coast Funds. “We look forward to working together to deliver durable, long-term financing that supports the MaPP partners to collaborate on the stewardship of the North Pacific Coast.” 

Since 2011, MaPP partners have used traditional ecological knowledge and modern science to inform planning for 102,000 km² of marine space from northern Vancouver Island, north to the Alaskan border, and west to Haida Gwaii – an area known as the Great Bear Sea, or Northern Shelf Bioregion, where the MaPP partners and others are also working to establish a network of marine protected areas (MPAs). 

Since 2011, MaPP has been supported by MakeWay Charitable Society through an innovative, shared services platform that has empowered local leaders and built deep and meaningful relationships with communities and MaPP partners. Through their commitment to empowerment and reciprocity, MaPP and Coast Funds will build on this progress and carry on the evolution of collaborative marine governance.

“Coast Funds has supported First Nations in the Great Bear Rainforest and Haida Gwaii for 15 years to help achieve their conservation, stewardship and economic development goals,” says Hon. Nathan Cullen, Minister of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship for British Columbia, in a MaPP release. “We are looking forward to their involvement as we continue to work with our First Nations partners through MaPP to protect coastal ecosystems and advance sustainable economic opportunities in the Great Bear Sea.”