Dos Mares

What Dos Mares does

Dos Mares is a marine conservation non-profit initiative founded in 2004 by Dr. Mike Marshall, Carlos A. Espinosa, Carlos Rivas LeClair, and Jaime Incer Barquero, originally in Nicaragua and now operating from Black Mountain, North Carolina. The organization focuses on transforming so-called "passive" marine protected areas — legally designated but underfunded and under-managed — into "active" ones across the seven Central American countries (Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama). Its primary customers are Central American government MPA authorities, park rangers (resource guards), and dependent coastal communities; 65% of MPAs in the region report insufficient budgets for management or enforcement, which is the core pain point Dos Mares addresses.

Dos Mares' product portfolio is content- and training-centric rather than technology-centric. Flagship offerings include the GP I II III +E Park Ranger Professionalization Program, the 2025 Technical Guide for Professionalization of Park Rangers (published in English and Spanish via Amazon), bilingual "Creating VALUE in the Protected Areas of Central America" documents and video (2020), a 2019 Zoom-based sustainability course for 14 participants from five countries, a 2018 three-article series in MPA News magazine, Science Matter newsletters (2014-2015), ArcGIS/ESRI story maps (Punta de Manabique, Laguna de los Micos), a Google Map of all Central American MPAs, and original Landsat-based seagrass mapping from 2004-2005. Distribution runs through dosmares.org, Amazon, YouTube, ArcGIS, Google Maps, and a Facebook community group ("Ambassadors of the Sea").

The business model is grant- and philanthropy-driven rather than commercial. Dos Mares is a private non-profit that has not completed legal incorporation and does not hold 501(c)(3) status, citing insufficient financial resources for incorporation as of 2023. A 2019 Ocean Foundation fiscal sponsorship application was declined because it required prior donor approval, and crowdfunding efforts did not succeed. Pricing for the technical guides exists via Amazon, and a courtesy PDF is available on email request, but no commercial pricing model, contract values, or revenue figures are disclosed. The organization has approximately 5 employees and continues to operate primarily through volunteer effort and founder-led execution.

Name

Dos Mares

Legal name

Dos Mares

Website

https://dosmares.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Dos Mares is a non-profit marine conservation initiative that supports Central American governments, park rangers, and coastal communities in transforming underfunded "paper park" marine protected areas into actively managed conservation units, primarily through training, technical guides, and educational content.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Marine Conservation Services

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYBPAGAIAD

Veterinary Charity Clinics & Medical Aid

Business & Public Services/Nonprofit, NGO & Social Services/Animal Welfare & Wildlife Rescue

Keywords

• Marine conservation
• Park ranger training
• Protected area management
• Marine biodiversity
• Conservation education

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Grant Funding and Philanthropy: Dos Mares relies on grants, donor contributions, and philanthropy to support marine protected areas. The organization was seeking fiscal sponsorship from Ocean Foundation but has not yet obtained it due to lack of 501(c)(3) nonprofit status. Efforts to obtain crowdfunding support did not succeed. The organization does not have sufficient financial resources for legal incorporation in the United States as of 2023.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Dos Mares is a marine conservation organization that supports Central American coastal marine protected areas (MPAs) in fulfilling their management programs and financial capacity. It delivers park ranger professionalization training (the GP I II III +E Program), publishes technical guides, articles, and digital mapping resources, and conducts online courses to transform passive "paper parks" into actively managed protected areas.

Product overview

Dos Mares is a marine conservation organization that offers a portfolio of educational publications, training programs, and digital resources focused on transforming passive marine protected areas into active ones in Central America. The core offerings include the GP I II III +E Program for park ranger professionalization, technical guides, video/documentary publications on value creation in protected areas, MPA News articles, Science Matter newsletters, interactive Google Maps of MPAs, story maps, and online courses on MPA sustainability. These products serve to educate stakeholders, build capacity among park rangers, and advocate for better funding and management of marine protected areas across Central America.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• GP I II III +E Program (Park Ranger Professionalization Program) A structured park ranger professionalization program with multi-level certification (I, II, III and III+ specialties) covering visitor attention, community relations, conflict resolution, community care, first aid, and fire control; intended for park rangers and resource guards in Central American marine protected areas.
• Technical Guide for Professionalization of Park Rangers in Central America English-language printed technical guide (2025) for professionalizing park rangers across Central America, sold via Amazon.
• Instructivo para la Profesionalización de Guardaparques en Centroamérica Spanish-language printed technical guide (2025) for park ranger professionalization in Central America, sold via Amazon.
• Creando VALOR en las Areas Protegidas de Centro America Document and video (2020) in Spanish explaining how to create value in Central American protected areas, with English captions.
• Creating VALUE in the Protected Areas of Central America English-language document (2020) on creating value in Central American protected areas, complementing the Spanish version.
• MPA News Articles Series Three articles published in MPA News magazine in 2018 covering Central American MPAs: an introductory view of successes and lessons learned, challenges including well-financed criminal groups, and 20-year retrospective lessons.
• Science Matter Newsletter / Bulletin Bilingual newsletter editions (2014 and 2015) providing a panorama of marine scientific activity across Central America.
• Central America MPAs Google Map Interactive Google Map first published in 2017 showing all Marine Protected Areas of Central America.
• Story Maps Collection ESRI/ArcGIS story maps in English and Spanish promoting specific protected areas, including Punta de Manabique (Guatemala), Laguna de los Micos (Honduras), and the 'You have a lot to live' campaign.
• Increasing Sustainability in MPAs Online Course Online course (2019) delivered via Zoom on increasing sustainability in marine protected areas within the framework of the public use program, with a Microsoft Excel assessment tool.
• Seagrass Mapping Project Digital map of seagrasses in the northern Caribbean of Nicaragua created using Landsat satellite imagery (2007) by Jorge Rodríguez Rubí.

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Conservation Finance Alliance (CFA)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020Expressed interest in Dos Mares's MPA mobile application concept in 2020, suggesting the idea could be better raised by starting in a pilot protected area to lower investment costs. No formal partnership established.
• Ocean FoundationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDos Mares contacted Ocean Foundation in 2019 requesting support from its 'Fiscal Sponsorship' program for the 'Project Portfolio for MPAs in Central America.' The project was not approved because it required prior donor approval, which was impossible since Dos Mares was not a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit entity.
• MPA News MagazinecoreGTM or Marketing PartnerIn 2018, MPA News invited Dos Mares to publish three articles about MPAs in Central America, which were published in this prestigious magazine covering successes, challenges including criminal groups, and lessons learned over 20 years.
• Duke University - Nicholas School of the EnvironmentminorOthersCarlos A. Espinosa completed the Marine Planning Advancement Training Course (MPA) at Duke University in 2021, providing professional development and credentials for Dos Mares leadership.
• Ambassadors of the Sea (Facebook Group)minorOthersFacebook group formed in 2015 as a regional support network. Members contributed educational information on MPAs and announcements of diving services or seminars. Reoriented in 2021 towards field participation and project generation, though this approach did not prosper.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Ocean Conservancy: Ocean Conservancy is a US-based marine conservation NGO focused on ocean health, sustainable fisheries, and protected areas. It is a broad incumbent with similar advocacy and education-driven conservation work, though at much greater institutional scale than Dos Mares.
• Blue Nature Alliance: Blue Nature Alliance is a global initiative to catalyze effective large-scale ocean protection and explicitly uses the "actively managed" MPA framework that Dos Mares cites from the MPA Guide. It is a much larger and better-funded actor pursuing the same "paper parks to active parks" thesis globally.
• WildAid: WildAid is a marine and wildlife conservation NGO focused on protecting threatened species and their habitats through communications and partnerships. Its marine program and capacity-building approach are conceptually adjacent to Dos Mares's education-driven conservation model, though it operates at global scale.
• Mission Blue: Mission Blue, founded by Sylvia Earle, is dedicated to establishing a global network of marine protected areas ("Hope Spots"). It is a broad incumbent in the marine protected area advocacy and designation space that addresses the same conservation gap Dos Mares is targeting in Central America.
• Conservation International: Conservation International is a major global conservation organization with significant marine programs and Central American field presence. It operates as a broad incumbent funder and implementer of marine conservation, addressing MPA capacity gaps similar to those Dos Mares targets.
• The Nature Conservancy: The Nature Conservancy is a global conservation organization with major marine and Caribbean/Central American programs, including direct MPA management work. It is a broad incumbent addressing many of the same "active MPA management" challenges Dos Mares articulates, but at much larger scale.
• Oceana: Oceana is the largest international advocacy organization focused exclusively on ocean conservation, with active campaigns across Central America. It is a broad incumbent pursuing MPA policy outcomes in the same geographies Dos Mares targets, though with vastly greater resources and an advocacy rather than training focus.
• Environmental Defense Fund: Environmental Defense Fund runs significant marine fisheries and ocean conservation programs, including work in Latin America. It is a broad incumbent pursuing science-based marine conservation outcomes in geographies that overlap with Dos Mares's Central American focus.

Direct peers

• Reef Resilience Network: Reef Resilience Network is a knowledge-sharing platform for MPA managers that Dos Mares directly references on its website. Both organizations target MPA practitioners with educational content and capacity-building resources for tropical marine ecosystems.
• MAR Fund (Mesoamerican Reef Fund): Mesoamerican Reef Fund is a conservation trust fund dedicated to protecting the Mesoamerican Reef, with a geographic and thematic remit that overlaps directly with Dos Mares's Central America MPA focus. Both organizations channel resources toward marine protected area sustainability in the same region.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks2 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/DosMaresCA
• Facebookfacebook.com/dosmaresca
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/dos-mares

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Dos Mares