PROGRAM AREASConservation of the Mesoamerican ReefOverview | Program Objectives | Healthy ReefsOverviewThe Mesoamerican Reef (MAR) Ecoregion contains the largest coral reef system in the Atlantic Ocean. It extends more than 400 miles from the tip of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula southward to Belize, Guatemala, and the Bay Islands, off the Honduran coast (see map below). Well over a million local people benefit directly from the Reef resources for their livelihood.This biologically rich and threatened ecoregion encompasses barrier, fringe, patch, and atoll coral reefs, along with coastal mangroves, lagoons and seagrass beds. Our definition of this ecoregion includes the Caribbean watersheds of those four countries. The Summit Foundation has been supporting conservation efforts in the MAR ecoregion since 1998. Our long-term goal is to ensure that the Mesoamerican Reef thrives as a healthy, productive ecosystem capable of supporting vibrant economies and providing abundant marine resources for generations to come. To fulfill this long-term goal, we have taken a watershed approach that focuses on processes and conditions in the headwaters that directly affect water quality downstream and all the way to the Reef. Accordingly, our grantmaking addresses both land-based and coastal/marine issues that threaten the integrity and health of the Reef. We have identified several key objectives to advance our program
goal. While our grantmaking objectives do not cover every single
threat in every possible location of the MAR Ecoregion, they represent
the issues where we may have the best chances for impact. |
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 Stories of the Reef, the update from the Conservation of the Mesoamerican Reef Program (PDF 6MB)
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