Global Fund for Coral Reefs (GFCR) Regional Workshop for the East Asian Seas and Pacific Islands: M&E and REEF+

The East Asian Seas & Pacific region will host the third regional Global Fund for Coral Reef (GFCR) workshop, following the inaugural workshop in the Caribbean (Mexico, October 2024) and the second in the Western Indian Ocean (Zanzibar, February 2025). 

The workshop format will feature two simultaneous sessions: 
   a) a regional GFCR coral reef monitoring and evaluation (M&E) training workshop;  
   b) a regional GFCR REEF+ regional convening. Combining the two workshops  aims to build synergies between coral reef experts (community M&E), and knowledge management. 

M&E workshop

The M&E workshop will bring together GFCR M&E project officers and coral reef experts from the East Asia Seas and Pacific Islands regions. The workshop will focus on building the capacity of GFCR M&E project officers in using the MERMAID software, understanding GFCR M&E indicators, and understanding methodologies for data collection, reporting and analysis.

• Capacity building on using the GFCR Monitoring and Evaluation Toolkit
• Deeper understanding of GFCR indicators and how to report them
• Deeper understanding of methodologies for collecting and analyzing data
• Deeper understanding of how to design control sites and demonstrate impact
• Capacity-building on use of MERMAID software including additional features (covariates)

REEF+ workshop

The REEF+ workshop will promote knowledge exchange within the GFCR community to support reef-positive finance solutions. This workshop will also provide an opportunity for COBSEA countries to learn more about the GFCR model, and provide opportunities for regional learning and upscaling.

The REEF+ convening aims to: 

• Maximise cross-program learning and knowledge exchange by providing programs showcase best practices and lessons learned;
• Build capacity on priority topics including conservation finance, blended finance, and sector specific best practices; 
• Identify and develop opportunities for thematic case studies across the GFCR portfolio of programmes;
• Catalyse the GFCR community of practice to engage on relevant topics beyond the conference; and 
• Promote networking among the GFCR community of practice.

The workshop is hosted by the GFCR, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Coordinating Body on the Seas of East Asia (COBSEA), and the MERMAID.

• The Global Fund for Coral Reefs (GFCR) is a blended finance vehicle that works to enhance the resilience of coastal reef ecosystems, communities and economies by unlocking new public and private resources that accelerate sustainable businesses and financial solutions for the coral reef crisis. 
• UNEP leads the implementation of the monitoring and evaluation (M&E) framework for the GFCR and the evaluation of country programmes’ impacts. UNEP supports building the capacity of convening agents and partners across the whole GFCR portfolio on collecting, measuring, analyzing, and reporting on core M&E indicators. Core fund M&E indicators include social, ecological and financial indicators relevant to coral reefs such as live coral cover, macroalgal benthic cover, total reef fish biomass, number of direct beneficiaries, number of jobs created, amount of finance leveraged, and number of gender-smart investments. 
• UNDP leads the REEF+ Community of Practice. REEF+ promotes knowledge exchange between coral finance practitioners and drives finance towards bankable reef-positive solutions. REEF+ aims to facilitate knowledge and learning for the GFCR community to support the creation of reef-positive enterprises, finance strategies for Marine Protected and Conserved Areas, and other finance solutions supporting coral reefs and associated communities. REEF+ constitutes a Community of Practice comprising the GFCR Convening Agents and implementing partners – non-profit organizations, companies, individuals, investors, and government counterparts that work as part of the GFCR country and regional programmes. REEF+ enhances learning, solution sharing and networking among coral reef finance and management practitioners, including through focused webinars and practitioner discussions, networking events, the creation and curation of thematic communities of practice and working groups, and annual convenings.
• The Coordinating Body on the Seas of East Asia (COBSEA) is a UNEP Regional Seas administered Secretariat, a regional intergovernmental mechanism bringing together nine countries in development and protection of marine and coastal environment of East Asian Seas. COBSEA participating countries adopted the Marine and Coastal Ecosystems (MCE) Framework in April 2023, which guides COBSEA’s efforts on the management of the marine and coastal environment and provides a clear direction to achieving global targets from the SDGs and the KM GBF. UNEP-COBSEA has focused on strengthening the resilience and capacity building of coral reef ecosystems, communities, and economies efforts in different areas in the East Asian Seas, including monitoring and capacity building.
• MERMAID is an open-source application that collects and manages real-time coral reef health data, developed in partnership between the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), World Wide Fund for nature (WWF), and Sparkgeo. MERMAID has been chosen as the digital tool to facilitate the monitoring and evaluation of the Global Fund for Coral Reefs (GFCR) Programmes. MERMAID is supporting GFCR Programmes to collect baselines for 10 core Fund Indicators (F1 to F10) and 35 sub-indicators, and to monitor progress against targets for these indicators with bi-annual reports and final evaluations (see GFCR Monitoring and Evaluation Toolkit). MERMAID will also be used by the GFCR to obtain summaries of coral reef health indicators.