A new USD 2 million funding pool dedicated to community-based reef monitoring has been established through a partnership between PIRT, the Coral Triangle Initiative, and three bilateral development agencies. The pool provides grants of USD 50,000 to USD 200,000 to community organisations conducting systematic coral reef surveys using the Pacific standardised monitoring protocol, with a particular focus on sites identified as climate refugia — areas where reefs have shown greater resilience to recent bleaching events.
The funding pool responds to a critical gap identified in the 2025 State of Pacific Reefs report, which found that fewer than 30 percent of high-priority reef sites in the Pacific are monitored with sufficient frequency and standardisation to detect meaningful trends. Community-based monitoring offers a cost-effective solution that simultaneously builds local capacity and generates scientifically credible data, but has historically been underfunded relative to academic and government-led monitoring programmes.
Applications for the first funding round are now open and will close on 31 July 2026. Eligible applicants include registered community organisations, conservation NGOs, and indigenous community groups operating in one or more Pacific Island Countries and Territories. Applicants must demonstrate access to trained monitors using the PIRT standardised protocol and must commit to uploading data to the Pacific Biodiversity Information Facility within 30 days of each survey.
PIRT member organisations can access technical assistance for application preparation through the Grants Intelligence Service. Priority will be given to applications from countries with less than three existing permanent monitoring sites and from organisations monitoring sites identified as climate refugia in the 2025 State of Pacific Reefs report.