these trust funds are independent entities financed by a range of international and national sources as of april total commitments to endow mauritania s trust fund bacomab had reached eur million with funds sourced from the mauritanian government via the eu fpa as well as from a range of international donors guineabissau s more recent bioguinea foundation established in has received commitments of eur million including eur million from the guineabissau government building a shared understanding of the economic benefits that marine conservation can bring to the fisheries sector was vital this required lobbying consensus building and coordination by nongovernment organisations ngos acting as brokers both cases also highlight the importance of a secure legal and institutional basis for mpa management and financing to prevent wavering political support and changing priorities threatening the longterm stability of conservation financing