Digital Payment System (DPS)
A financial mechanism that enables electronic fee collection for access to Marine Protected Areas.
A Digital Payment System (DPS) is a financial mechanism that enables electronic fee collection for access to Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). It allows visitors to pay entrance fees, mooring fees, and other services digitally, replacing or complementing cash-based systems. The tool allocates all revenues directly to conservation and sustainable management efforts. By digitizing transactions, it enhances transparency, strengthens financial control, and increases payment compliance, particularly in contexts where limited staff and reliance on patrol boats create operational constraints. The mechanism builds on existing experience in the Caribbean, where similar systems are already in use in MPAs such as Soufriere Marine Management Area (Saint Lucia), Exuma Cays Land & Sea Park (Bahamas), Tobago Cayes Marine Park (SVG), St. Eustatius, St. Maarten, Bonaire, among others.
- Improved transparency compared to cash transactions
- Higher payment compliance, ensuring fees are captured more consistently
- Operational efficiency, reducing dependence on patrol boats for fee collection
- Secure and traceable revenue flows dedicated to conservation and sustainable management projects
- Enhanced visitor experience through easy, modern, cashless payment options
- Scalability, allowing multiple MPAs across a country or region to use a unified system
- Strengthened governance, with better data, reporting, and financial oversight
The DPS is a digital mechanism that facilitates the payment of Marine Protected Area (MPA) services by users. A duly authorized entity collects these fees and can allocate and manage the financial resources both to the operational and maintenance costs of the MPA and to support blue conservation projects within its jurisdiction.
Stakeholders Involved:
- Bank or fintech company
- MPAs authorities
- TA / concessional finance provider
- NCTFs to present projects and support governance
- Blue economy projects, communities, and entrepreneurs
- Tourists, cruising and yachting companies paying for MPAs services willing to make donations
Operational digital fee system in the Caribbean; direct link to MPA financing; strong relevance to the region's marine tourism sector.
The Bonaire National Marine Park, established in 1962, is managed by the STINAPA organization on behalf of the Bonairian government. Its operations rely entirely on visitor contributions rather than public funds. In 2015, the manager of the Bonaire MPA, founded Reef Support to strengthen MPA management and improve community engagement through the development of a Reef Support Internet-Based Payment System, a digital solution to streamline fee collection. The system issues digital QR code access tags, which are emailed to users upon payment and verified on-site by rangers or tourism operators using mobile devices.
STINAPA adopted this system to manage access to Bonaire's marine parks. The most recent version also includes a mooring reservation and payment feature, which now generates more revenue than visitor access fees. Reef Support has expanded its digital solutions to other regions, including Tobago Cays Marine Park, Namibia's national conservation fee, and previously St. Maarten. However, the system achieved little success in Curacao and Namibia.
National legislation defines who must pay access fees, how much they must pay, and assigns enforcement responsibilities to service operators. While this applies only to marine areas, STINAPA has bundled access to both marine and terrestrial zones under a single fee, informed by willingness-to-pay (WTP) studies and stakeholder input.
Initial resistance from tourism operators was overcome when the government legislated the fees and ensured that all funds collected through the app were ringfenced for MPA management. In contrast, in places like Roatán, managers resisted legislation fearing loss of revenue to central governments.
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