The UN Atlas of the Oceans was initially funded by the United Nations Foundation. In addition, six UN Agencies (FAO, IAEA, IMO, UNEP, WMO, UNESCO/IOC) committed financial resources to the project, joined by the Secretariat of the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD). Development has been under the lead of the FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department with additional participation from national agencies. Collaborators include the Russian Head Department of Navigation and Oceanography (HDNO) and the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which provided a wealth of information and seconded a senior manager to serve as Project Manager, supplying him with support staff and funding. The original partnership has expanded to include: the Census on Marine Life (CoML), the National Geographic Society, the UN International Seabed Authority (ISA), the World Resource Institute (WRI) and the World Ocean Observatory (W2O).
