Brazil Sustaining Healthy Coastal and Marine Ecosystems Project To strengthen management of Brazilâ€™s Marine and Coastal Protected Area (MCPA) system and the enabling conditions for a Blue Economy Note: Disbursement data provided is cumulative and covers disbursement made by the project Agency. 16.Well-managed marine and coastal protected areas (MCPAs) can generate a suite of ecological benefits by reducing catch pressure on marine species and increasing habitat protection and ecosystem resilience. Similarly, ecological benefits within MCPAs can include increased diversity, abundance, size, and biomass of species, which can be 2–5 times higher in MCPAs compared to fished areas. MCPAs can also bring about improvements in ecosystem health. More generally, MCPAs may help marine ecosystems adapt to climate change impacts, including ocean acidification, sea-level rise, storm intensification, and shifts in species distributions that lead to “climate invaders.” Finally, another important benefit is the reduction of carbon emissions.17.Ecological benefits translate into socio-economic benefits and resilience to shocks, including public health related shocks. Market benefits are the economic value of goods or services that are observed through market transactions. Marine protected area market benefits potentially include increased fisheries profitability, which can arise through increased recruitment of juveniles and the spillover of fish biomass from MCPAs into fished areas. Marine protected areas can also provide market benefits through increased tourism, or the provision of ecosystem services (e.g., conserved reef systems can protect coastlines from severe weather). Non-market benefits are the economic value of goods or services that cannot be observed through market transactions. These include the benefit to people from knowing that a threatened species is protected, or that an ecosystem is in good condition. Furthermore, the project supports substantial improvements in biodiversity and water quality.18.Initiatives to develop a pathway to a Blue Economy create long-term benefits of the sustainable use of coastal and marine resources. If managed well, the goods and services produced from coastal and marine ecosystems could make a much greater contribution to reducing poverty, building resilient communities, fostering strong economies, and feeding a global population that is projected to grow to more than 9 billion by 2050. For example, the World Bank’s 2016 Sunken Billions Revisited report shows that properly managed fisheries, with a reduction in overcapacity and overfishing, could provide additional benefits to the global economy in excess of US$80 billion each year (World Bank, 2016). That is almost 30 times the annual net benefits currently accruing to the fisheries sector in spite of the currently prevalent overfishing.19.Management for conservation and sustainable use in MCPAs is expected to improve and enhance understanding in local communities of the importance of MCPAs and the Blue Economy. Additional benefits will arise in the form of better public service delivery resulting from capacity building in coastal and marine ecosystem administration and specialized training of beneficiaries.Specifically, the project will create direct socio-economic benefits for an estimated 3,000 beneficiaries, including women (50% of beneficiaries), indigenous peoples and vulnerable groups. By doing this, the project also promotes full and productive employment and decent work in rural areas, aiming at the progressive realization of their right to Decent Rural Employment. More indirectly, the project is expected to generate socio-economic benefits for Brazil’s coastal and marine communities more widely by securing the conservation and sustainable use of their resources.