Bezos Earth Fund commits $24.5m to protect Eastern Pacific waters

In two years the four countries had tripled the size of the protected seas to more than 600,000 square kilometres (231,660 square miles) across 10 separate areas, and the aim now was to create a single biosphere reserve, he said.

"That will be the first in the world," Samper said, adding the fund was also discussing a similar reserve in the Pacific five times the size of the continental United States.