Proceeds from the Auction will go to Colombia's Malpelo Fauna and Flora Sanctuary UNESCO World Heritage site inscribed in 2006. Located some 500 km off the coast of Colombia, the site includes Malpelo island (120 ha) and the surrounding marine environment (958, 400 ha). This vast marine park, one of the largest no-fishing zones in the Eastern Tropical Pacific, provides a critical habitat for internationally threatened marine species and is a major source of nutrients resulting in large aggregations of marine biodiversity. It is in particular a "reservoir" for sharks, giant grouper and billfish and is one of the few places in the world where sightings of the short-nosed ragged-toothed shark, a deepwater shark, have been confirmed. Widely recognised as one of the top diving sites in the world, due to the presence of steep walls and caves of outstanding natural beauty, these deep waters support important populations of large predators and pelagic species (e.g. aggregations of over 200 hammerhead sharks and over 1,000 silky sharks, whale sharks and tuna have been recorded) in an undisturbed environment where they maintain natural behavioural patterns.

In order to protect more efficiently Colombia's Malpelo Fauna and Flora Sanctuary, the proceeds from the Auction will go to the purchase of an inflatable boat. Currently Malpelo Sanctuary is equipped from a patrol boat from the Colombian Navy with 10 Colombian Navy personnel plus one Columbian National Park staff. This boat was rifted in 2007 with resources from the Seascape project financed by UNESCO and Conservation International (Global Conservation Fund). This boat spends 20 days at a time in the surveillance of Malpelo FFS to control illegal fishing, which is the major threat to Malpelo sharks, seeking their fins for the Asian market. With resources from the Colombian National Parks around 45,000 USD are invested every year in this boat as well as a second one that has been recently added to the fleet. It transpires that this inter institutional work has proven to be a great asset for the conservation of Malpelo Fauna and Flora Sanctuary. Thanks to the proceeds from the online Auction, this site could be supported significantly in the surveillance and protection of its unique Fauna and Flora, as the inflatable boat would control the movements from the boats to the island as well as shot patrols around the island.

To find out more about Colombia's Malpelo Fauna and Flora Sanctuary visit the UNESCO World Heritage website.