Coral Conversations

"Coral Conversations Over Coffee” is a peer-to-peer dialogue series led by GFCR programmes and partners. It builds a Community of Practice where implementers share their own experiences, insights, and solutions. These conversations highlight the innovation already happening on the ground, create space for open exchange, and strengthen collective capacity — helping programmes enhance their impact and advance coral reef finance together.

Indonesia and Philippines

Bonifacio Tobias (Blue Alliance Philippines) and Hero Ohoiulun (Blue Alliance Indonesia) discuss how their GFCR-supported co-management programs in the Coral Triangle are expanding networks of marine protected areas while strengthening community engagement, improving compliance and enforcement, and diversifying livelihoods.

Micronesia and Solomon Islands

Pablo Obregon (WWF-US) and Yimnang Golbuu (The Nature Conservancy) discuss lessons from coral reef initiatives across Pacific Island nations, focusing on how GFCR-supported programs can navigate limited local capacity and complex logistics by prioritizing feasible geographies and sectors, leveraging blended-finance partnerships, and strengthening shared learning.

Philippines/Tanzania and Sri Lanka

Naalin Perera (IUCN Sri Lanka) and Angelique Brathwaite (Blue Alliance) discuss experiences with MPA management including Blue Alliance’s revenue-generating reef-positive businesses and Sri Lanka’s planned national conservation trust fund to reduce reliance on short project cycles.

Mesoamerican Reef

Melanie McField (Healthy Reefs for Healthy People) and Alexandra Kler Lago (WCS MERMAID) discuss how GFCR-supported partnerships can strengthen coral reef protection by streamlining collaborative monitoring across the Mesoamerican Reef, aligning open data with global biodiversity and SDG frameworks, responding to escalating climate-driven bleaching impacts with evidence-based policy, and building long-term local capacity through training and knowledge transfer.

Indonesia

Lindasari Anggorowati (Konservasi Indonesia) and Ahmad Baihaki “Aki” (YKAN) discuss how their GFCR-supported programs are advancing blended finance for coral reefs in Indonesia by combining grants, investment, and debt-swap resources to strengthen financially autonomous MPA management), and scale reef-positive MSMEs from early support to long-term investment readiness.

Papua New Guinea and Fiji

Elsie Simeon (UNDP Papua New Guinea) and Vineil Narayan (UNDP Fiji) discuss lessons from their GFCR-supported blue economy programs on how to build inclusive, investable pipelines for reef-positive enterprises in Pacific Island contexts, including using accelerators/incubators, loan guarantees and concessional lending, strengthening community and gender-focused mentoring, and prioritizing a next phase that links conservation to market access and long-term livelihood growth.

Maldives and Seychelles

Diana Renaud (SeyCCAT) and Thuhufa Abdulla (UNDP Maldives) discuss how their GFCR-supported programs in Seychelles and the Maldives are building financing pathways for reef-positive businesses, innovative tools (e.g., parametric insurance), and enabling policy and regulatory frameworks.