The global ocean is an essential component of the Earth’s ecosystem and critical to the sustainable development of our planet. Despite growing awareness of the ocean’s crucial role in sustaining life on Earth, there is comparatively limited funding available for marine conservation. To address that deficiency, Blue Action Fund was founded in 2016 by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) in conjunction with KfW Development Bank. Subsequently, the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Agence Française de Développement (AFD), the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad), and Irish Aid became funding partners and Blue Action Fund is now one of the world’s largest public funders promoting marine conservation and sustainable livelihoods in coastal communities.

Blue Action Fund recognises the ocean’s fundamental role in ensuring the health of our planet and the wellbeing of mankind. Our vision is of a carefully managed and sustainably used ocean full of abundant, healthy marine life providing major benefits to people and the environment. Our mission is to enhance the management and use of coastal and marine ecosystems to conserve marine biodiversity for future generations while improving the lives of local people today. We pursue that mission by making targeted grants to non-governmental organisations active in developing countries.

Blue Action Fund is a non-profit foundation established under German law. It is structured as a two-tier board model with a Management Board conducting day-to-day business and a Supervisory Board overseeing its activities and providing strategic guidance. Blue Action Fund is one of four partners forming the Nature Trust Alliance (NTA) GbR, which provides operational support services to Blue Action Fund and the other three conservation trust funds.