WildAid's new program in Latin America  combines on-site research with the generation of publicity about rapidly-declining shark populations in Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia and Ecuador. The publicity campaign is designed to encourage the strengthening of local laws protecting sharks and the enforcement of protective measures within marine reserves. WildAid supports the  development of the Eastern Tropical Pacific initiative to safeguard 520 million acres in the eastern Pacific, forming a conservation corridor through the waters of Ecuador, Colombia, Panama and Costa Rica. In addition to developing this marine protected area,  WildAid is working to encourage the governments of these countries to take a regional approach to the issue of shark finning.
In collaboration with international advertising agencies, DDB Worldwide and J. Walter Thompson, WildAid is planning to launch a public education and mobilization effort to support these initiatives