Protected Areas Fund (FANP)


FANP supports Mexico’s protected areas

The Project

The Protected Areas Fund (FANP, acronym in Spanish) aims to support the efficient use of financial resources channeled to Mexico’s protected areas (PAs) to strengthen their operation and management and ensure the long-term conservation of representative ecosystems.

Context

Created in 1997, FANP is a public-private collaboration scheme between FMCN and the National Commission of Natural Protected Areas (CONANP, acronym in Spanish), in which FMCN is in charge of the financial management of economic resources and supervises their use in 53 federal PAs administered by CONANP, which ensures that the economic resources are used for strategic conservation activities in the territory. FANP finances strategic activities such as biological monitoring, restoration of degraded areas, community vigilance, fire management, productive projects, ecotourism, and capacity building.

Since 2012, FANP has promoted the Protected Areas Learning Community (Comunidad de Aprendizaje de Áreas Naturales – CAAP, acronym in Spanish), a network made up of PA managers and local organizations in which the capacities of its members are strengthened through the exchange of experiences, to improve performance in their different areas of work. CAAP operates through the participation of more than 4,000 followers on its Facebook page; the publication of a quarterly electronic bulletin; biennial face-to-face meetings with directors of PAs that have FANP resources; and through open calls for proposals that finance the exchange of experiences every two years.

In 2022, FANP celebrated 25 years of operation as one of the most successful financial mechanisms and an example in other parts of the world for the financing and operation of priority PAs.


The lines of work that guide FANP’s actions are:

  1. Strengthening the National System of Protected Areas through initiatives at a national level to improve the management effectiveness in federal PAs.
  2. Strengthening the operation of 70 federal PAs through financing Annual Operational Plans, aligned with five-year strategic planning and focused on field management activities.
  3. Immediate attention to extraordinary environmental contingencies in 70 priority federal PAs that, by their nature, urgently and immediately affect the health of an ecosystem, species, or human life.

Since 2012, FANP has promoted the Protected Areas Learning Community (CAAP).

Learn more about CAAP

Achievements

Thanks to the collaboration with CONANP, communities, local organizations, and the trust of more than 23 donors who have joined this initiative since 1997, FANP is an exemplary mechanism at the national and international level that allows conserving natural resources and enjoying environmental services to Mexicans.

After 28 years since its creation, FANP channels strategic financial resources to 95 terrestrial and marine Protected Areas (PAs), covering 8.4% of the total terrestrial area and 9.6% of the total marine area.

In 2024, during COP16 held in Colombia, the MEx30x30 project was launched, which contributes to five PAs and one complex of Areas Voluntarily Designated for Conservation (ADVCs, acronym in Spanish). This project is framed within the successful management model that FANP has consolidated in Mexico.During the first half of 2025, the process of updating three strategic plans was facilitated for Bahía de Loreto National Park and the Sian Ka’an and El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserves.

During the same period, ten subprojects selected under the CAAP 2025 call began activities aimed at strengthening conservation networks and cooperation alliances among PAs, as well as promoting sustainability schemes within the protected areas themselves and their zones of influence, under an integrated landscape approach.

FANP channeled financial resources through its emergency fund, in collaboration with Conanp and Conafor, to support community brigades in responding to 28 environmental emergencies. These actions helped mitigate impacts primarily caused by wildfires, torrential rains, and the presence of invasive exotic species across several federal PAs.

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Allies

Donors:
  • Braskem Idesa, S.A.P.I.
  • National Commission of Natural Protected Areas
  • Conservation International Mexico
  • FIHSIN
  • Ford Foundation
  • Fundación Gonzalo Río Arronte, I.A.P.
  • Global Environment Facility
  • Government of the State of Mexico
  • Government of the State of Michoacan
  • Grupo Materias Primas
  • International Community Foundation
  • KfW Development Bank
  • Marisla Foundation
  • National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
  • Resources Legacy Fund
  • Secretaría de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales
  • The David and Lucile Packard Foundation
  • The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust
  • The Summit Foundation
  • U.S. Agency for International Development
  • United Nations Development Programme
  • Wick Communications
  • World Bank

Partners:

  • National Commission of Natural Protected Areas
  • Espacios Naturales y Desarrollo Sustentable, A. C.
  • Fondo de Conservación del Eje Neovolcánico, A. C.
  • Fondo de Conservación El Triunfo, A. C.
  • Fondo Golfo de México, A. C.
  • FONNOR, A. C.
  • Pronatura Península de Yucatán, A. C.

25 Years Promoting Conservation

In 2022, we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the FANP. To commemorate this achievement, we have created valuable resources that reflect our strategic allies' commitment and track record. We invite you to explore them:

It goes through our history, achievements, and challenges in these 25 years.

Meet the brave women and men who dedicate their lives to protecting our natural areas.

This work compiles 25 moving narratives that illustrate the experiences of those who make up the FANP.

Follow CAAP on Facebook: @caapmexico