From 6 – 9 October 2025, Bali Indonesia, the UNEP Coordinating Body on the Seas of East Asian (COBSEA) helped organize this Regional Workshop along with UNEP HQs, UNDP, Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and MERMAID. The workshop brought together GFCR partners, convening agents, COBSEA participating countries, and technical experts to enhance monitoring capacity, deepen peer learning, and accelerate innovative finance for coral reef conservation.
The Regional Workshop had two parallel sessions with following objectives:
- A) Regional monitoring and evaluation (M&E) training session:
- Share experiences on M&E between GFCR project officers and COBSEA representatives including methodologies, challenges and lessons learned
- Capacity building on using the GFCR Monitoring and Evaluation Toolkit, GFCR fund indicators and reporting process
- Capacity-building on use of MERMAID for collection, storing and analyzing fund indicator and coral reef health data
- Foster regional collaboration on coral reef and socioeconomic monitoring & reporting
- B) Regional REEF+ regional convening session:
- 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;
- Strengthen the GFCR community through networking and ongoing engagement
The Regional Workshop concluded with a clear momentum for action: to strengthen regional collaboration through COBSEA’s Marine and Coastal Ecosystems Framework and the East Asian Seas Regional Collaborative Network of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) which was launched by nine regional organizations during the UNOC3, enhance reporting and data quality via MERMAID, and continue expanding REEF+ as a dynamic platform for innovation, storytelling, and peer exchange.
Source: COBSEA
