To use MERMAID,  you need to sign up at https://app.datamermaid.org.

You can 'sign up with Google' to use an existing Gmail account and associated password, or enter a different email and create a password specific to MERMAID. Your account will be linked to your email.

Only users who have a MERMAID account can collect data on MERMAID. Emails not associated with MERMAID accounts can be specified by other users as Sample Unit observers; but without an account you cannot interact with the data.

MERMAID is only officially supported on Google Chrome, Firefox, and Edge browsers, and may not fully work with other browsers, like Explorer or Safari.

After signing up you will receive a confirmation email to verify your new account. You can access your profile information by clicking on the avatar in the upper right corner of any page. Here you can view your email and name, and change your MERMAID account name.

If you forget your unique password for MERMAID, click 'Don’t remember your password?' on the login page to receive an email with a link to reset your password.

If you signed up for MERMAID using Google and forget your Gmail password, you must reset your password through Google.

A project consists of a set of observations collected in sample units (transect/quadrat/etc.) surveyed at particular sites, on particular dates, associated with management regimes. All data, data sharing, and user access in MERMAID is organized by project. It is up to you to decide how to organize your observations; many users define a project as containing the data from a single expedition.

A new project can only be created while online. To create, click the red ‘New Project’ button, enter a project name, then click “Create Project” to complete your new MERMAID project. A name is required for every new project. All other information can be added using "Project Info" in the lefthand menu.

After a project is created, add users, sites, management regimes, and organization, and set data sharing policies while online.

1. Add Users:

Enter the email addresses for users involved in the project and select their roles. Users should be signed up for a MERMAID account before they can be added to a project. You can add an email that has not yet been associated with an account, but that project user's name will appear as '(pending user)' and they will not be able to access MERMAID until they associate that email with an account.

The project creator is automatically the administrator (‘admin’) of the project. Other users will default to the collector role when added and can be changed to admin or read-only by selecting the appropriate role from the available options. Additional users can be added or deleted by the administrator after a project is created.

The scope of each role is as follows:

• Read-Only: user can only view, export, and analyze data in the analysis tools, but cannot collect new observations.

  • i.e. a project manager who is in charge of writing reports or analyses but is not collecting data in the field

• Collector: user can view, export, and analyze data, and collect new observations. Once a transect is submitted, the user can no longer edit or delete observations.

  • i.e. a member of the project team who is tasked with collecting data

• Admin: user has all Collector privileges, and can additionally change project information and data sharing, add and remove project users, transfer unsubmitted sample units between project users, and un-submit sample units for further editing.

  • i.e. typically one person designated as the lead of the project

If a user must leave a project or reaches the end of their position, their data can be transferred to other users within a project. This can be done within a project through the "Users" tab. Simply select ‘Transfer’ for the user that will be removed from the project, then indicate the user from the project to whom you would like to transfer the unsubmitted sample units. Users can also be removed from a project on this page. If a user still has unsubmitted sample units on their “collecting” page, be sure to transfer records prior to removing them from the project.

2. Add Sites:

Adding sites to a project is done after the project has been created, by selecting the "Sites" item under "METADATA" in the lefthand menu within a project. Once on the sites page, there are two ways to add a site to a project:

1. Create a new site using the "+ New site" button at the top right of the page, fill in the details and click the 'Save' button on the top right of the page.

2. Choose from sites that are already in the MERMAID system using the "Copy sites from other projects" button next to the create new site button. These may be sites that you or your organization are monitoring and have used before in previous surveys. The search bar allows you to filter the list by site name, project name, or country. Click the check box next to any site you would like to add to your project, then click the “Copy selected sites to project” button at the bottom of the dialog. A map at the bottom of the dialog also displays where the site is located with a red dot.

3. Add Management Regime:

A management regime categorizes the regulations and restrictions placed on an area in which a survey site is located, on the date of the survey. These may be management regimes for sites that you or your organization are monitoring or have used in previous surveys. To add management regimes, navigate to "Management Regimes" in the lefthand menu within a project. 

If you are surveying sites with a new management regime, or if your site’s management regime has changed, it must be added after creating your new project. 

There are two ways to add management regimes to a project:

1. Create a new management regimes using the "+ New MR" button at the top right of the page, fill in all the details, and then click 'Save' on the top right of the page.

2. Choose from existing management regimes in the MERMAID system using "Copy MRs from other projects". You can save time by selecting and adding previous management regimes to your project here. The ‘Filter’ bar allows you to search the list by management name, project name, or year. Click the check box next to any management type you would like to add to your project, then click the “Copy selected MRs to project” button at the bottom of the dialog.

4. Add organization

Add your organization to the project. By adding your organization, it will help you monitor your surveys easily by using the filter function on the MERMAID dashboard. To add your organization, use the "Project Info" item under "Admin" in the lefthand menu within a project. As soon as you type, MERMAID will show you a dropdown options of the available organizations for you to select. You can add more than one organization in a project. Once you're done adding organizations, click the "Save" button on the upper right to record your changes.

If you can't find your organization under the available options, you can suggest a new organization. To do this, type your organization name in the "Organizations" field and select "Suggest a new organization to MERMAID" option. Type again your organization name in the "New Organization Name" field and click "Send to MERMAID for review". Once your organization is accepted, it will be available in the dropdown list.

5. Data Sharing:

MERMAID is committed to working collectively as a community of researchers and reef managers to use the power of data to make faster, better decisions. Coral reef monitoring data is collected with the intent of advancing coral reef science and improving management. We recognize the large effort to collect data and your sense of ownership. While not required, we hope you choose to make your data available to fuel new discoveries and inform conservation solutions.

Choosing a data policy for your project determines how much of your project’s data can be shared with other users to facilitate global collaboration and understanding of coral reef health via future global dashboard features in MERMAID. It can be chosen independently for different survey methods, so that fish and benthic data can have different levels of sharing. Your data policy level can be changed at any time after creating a project.

The three policy levels are:

• Public summary – Collected observations are private, but site-level summary statistics are public, along with metadata for the project, protocol, and site. This option is the default.

• Public – All collected observations are public.

• Private – Collected observations and site-level summary statistics are private, but metadata for project, protocol, and site, including site location and type and count of sample unit at each site, are public.

If you are creating a project to practice using MERMAID or train others, you can indicate this with the 'This is a test project' checkbox at the bottom of the page. Data added for a test project will be omitted from all public reporting.

Now your project is ready to be used!

The Projects Page lists all the MERMAID projects of which you are a part, in any role (admin, collector, or read-only). The Projects Page provides a complete summary of what is happening in each project: the number of submitted and unsubmitted sample units, the total number of sites with data, the number of users added to the project, and how the pre-protocol data sharing policies have been set. If you are an admin of a project, there will be an Administrator Tag appear next to the project name.

Click the top-left “MERMAID” icon or “Projects” in the top navigation bar of any page to go to your main Projects page.

Project details can only be edited while online.

You can access common project pages directly by clicking each item under each project. For example, if you click COLLECTING, you will be directed to that project's Collecting page. In this way, the Projects page provides easy access to directly start entering data, review submitted sample units, manage your sites, remove or add additional users, and change your data sharing settings for each project.

If you're doing a repeat survey and would like to create a new project for it, you can use the Copy button on the project you want to copy. This will create a new project and copy the sites, management regimes, data sharing policies, and users and their roles.

Use the filter bar to search the projects by name or country. You can also download a Reference xlsx file containing the fish and benthic attributes used in MERMAID, go to the Global Dashboard, view the What's New page, and check updates using the notification (bell) icon.

Before heading to the field, there are a few steps that must be followed to ensure you are able to enter data offline.

Be sure to follow each step carefully prior to your expedition while connected to the internet:

1. All project members create accounts

2. A project admin creates the project

3. The project admin must add all other users to the project. Optionally, copy or add sites and management regimes before going to the field.

4. Ensure that the 'Offline Ready' button to the right of each project in the project list that you will use offline has a checked sign. If it is not checked, click the 'Offline Ready' button to make sure data is available offline. 

5. Test offline access by clicking the 'You're ONLINE' toggle on the bottom left of all pages so that it reads 'You're OFFLINE', turning off your Wi-Fi, restarting Chrome, and entering test data into your project.

6. Ensure that you and all other project members are logged in to MERMAID and can access the project with all the latest sites and management regimes, then toggle the 'You're ONLINE' button to 'You're OFFLINE'. Do not sign out of your MERMAID account. Now your project is ready to be used offline and it is safe to turn off your computer.

Unused or multiple test projects can submerge users in unnecessary data, clogging up projects. You can delete dormant projects using the 'Delete Project' button on the Project Info Page. Rest assured, the process involves multiple steps to prevent accidental deletion and safeguard essential data.

Steps to delete a project is as follow:

1. Ensure that you have the admin rights to the relevant project. Only an admin can delete a project.
2. Remove all users.
3. Remove all submitted and unsubmitted sample units.
4. Head to the Project Info Page and click the 'Delete Project' button.

The data collection process

All information entered in MERMAID goes through validation before becoming live, scientifically valid data. When entering information from your dive sheets, whether online or offline, you work with transects and quadrats that are only visible to you, in the "Collecting" area of a project.

When you are online and ready to commit your observations, you validate each sample unit individually, and once all warnings and errors are addressed, submit it. Only then does the sample unit become visible to all project members in the "Submitted" area of the project. It is also part of all exported xlsx files, and available via authenticated mermaidr access. If the project's data sharing policy for that sample unit is not "private", the sample unit will also be available to non-project members, accessible via the MERMAID dashboard.

Definitions

• Site: A place, defined per-project as a unique set of latitude and longitude coordinates with a name and other attributes, where data is collected
• Management Regime: A set of rules in effect at the time of data collection governing coral reef resources, with a name and other optional attributes.
• Sample event: An episode of data collection occurring at a Site on a date, with a Management Regime in place. The unique combination of Site, date, and Management Regime defines a Sample Event, which is used for the aggregated calculation of sample unit-level survey results.
• Sample unit: A group of observations collected as part of a particular survey protocol, at a given place on a given date (sample event). Because many survey protocols define a transect, "sample unit" is often used interchangably with "transect" but is more general, including, for example, collections of bleaching quadrats.
• Observation: an individual measurement of an observable phenomenon collected as part of a sample unit, for example a benthic attribute at a point along a benthic Point Intercept Transect.
• Validation: The MERMAID online process all sample units must undergo before becoming scientifically valid data.
• Error: a validation issue prohibiting submission because it violates fundamental survey protocol definitions; for example, a transect cannot be submitted without a defined length.
• Warning: a validation issue that flags an unusual value, such as a fish size greater than previously recorded. Warnings can be addressed by changing the relevant value or by indicating that the warning should be ignored.

The ‘Collecting’ page is where you can add new sample unit observations and view other observations that you have already collected and saved but not yet submitted. 

Select a project from your list to enter the project’s "Collecting” page, or directly click the "COLLECTING" tab on the Project Page.

The red number next to the “Collecting” tab in the lefthand menu indicates the number of records you have collected and saved but not yet submitted. The search bar allows you to filter the records by site name, management regime, or observer name. Use the "Filter Method" button to filter based on the method. It allows users to filter in multiple ways and show the total sample unit(s) using the chosen method(s) next to the filter button. Click on the "x" symbol to remove all filters applied. Click on the table headers to sort based on your preference.

Only users with ‘Collector’ or ‘Administrator’ roles can collect and submit new observations; ‘Read-only’ users cannot collect sample units.

A sample unit requires validation prior to submission. Validation will ensure that all data in a sample unit are correct. If not, an error or warning will appear on top of the page and next to the issue that need to be resolved.

Observations can be added both online and offline, but they can only be validated and submitted when connected to the internet.

MERMAID Version 2 also provides an improved experience to record data using a mobile phone.

In the lefthand menu you can find "Sites" and "Management Regimes". Here admins and collectors can add a new site or management regime to a project. A site is a unique latitude and longitude, with accompanying attributes; a management regime is the area (including MPAs, OECMs, or open access zones) defined by a set of rules in effect at the time of data collection.

Adding a new site

Navigate to the “Sites” tab and select “+ New site” 

A new site requires a name, country, coordinates, and details on the exposure, reef type, and reef zone. The name can be the site’s common name or unique ID. A point symbol will appear on the map below it to show the site location based on the coordinates. The point can be move around to adjust to the right location and the coordinates will follow. When all details have been added the "Save" button will turned on to allow saving the site.

In the “Sites” tab you can choose “Copy sites from other projects” to add existing sites and their metadata from other MERMAID projects.

A new site created by one user is shared across the project with all other users and available for them to use in observations. Best practice is to plan the sampling sites for your project in advance and add them before going to the field.

If multiple new sites have identical coordinates, they will be flagged as duplicate sites if used in submitted sample units. In other words, MERMAID will detect duplicate sites only if used in a project. If this happens, for example because multiple team members add the same site while offline, you will see a warning after you hit the "Validate" button next to the "Site" field within a sample unit  that says “Site: Similar records detected”. Click “Resolve” to decide whether to merge the duplicate sites or keep them separate.

A dialog box will show you which sites are considered duplicates. Here you can decide whether to keep one site and merge it with the duplicate sites, or to edit a site and change the metadata to indicate that they actually are separate, unique sites. Unique sites must have different coordinates.

If you choose to keep a site, the site that will be merged with the site you chose to keep will be highlighted in yellow. Select “Merge” to confirm.

When sites have been merged, the sites will be updated with the single merged site, and this merged site will automatically be assigned to all sample units that were using the duplicate sites. All observation data will be preserved.

Adding a new management regime

Navigate to the “Management Regimes” tab and select “+ New MR”

A new management regime requires a name and at least one rule; all other details are optional. "Open Access" is the default for the "Rules". When you are finished, save the management regime. You can also delete using the “Delete Management Regime” button at the bottom of the page. Only saved management regime can be deleted.

On the “Management Regimes” page you can also choose “Copy MRs from other projects” to add existing management regimes and their metadata from other MERMAID projects. 

A new management regime created by one user is shared across the project with all other users and is available for them to use in observations. Best practice is to know the management regimes within your project in advance and add them while online, before going to the field. Management regime details can be edited after creation if needed.

Multiple management regimes with identical names will be flagged as duplicate management regimes. If this happens, you will see a warning next to the "Management" filed that says “Another Management Regime is similar to this one”.

These management regimes can be merged or kept separate. Click “Resolve” button to decide whether to merge the duplicate management regimes or keep them separate.

A dialog box will show you which management regimes are considered duplicates. Here you can decide whether to keep just one management regime or to edit a management regime and change the metadata to indicate that they actually are separate, unique management regimes. Unique management regimes must have different names.

If you want to keep just one management regime, select the “Keep MR” button. The duplicate management regime(s) that will be merged with the management regime you choose to keep will be highlighted in yellow. This merged management regime will now be assigned to all sample units that had been associated with the duplicate management regime. All observation data will be preserved. If you want to keep both management regimes, select “Keep both”.

When you’re ready to enter new data for a project, click “+ Add Sample Unit” at the top right of the Collecting page and select a method.

There are six methods available in MERMAID: fish belt transect, benthic point intercept (PIT) transect, benthic line intercept (LIT) transect, benthic photo quadrat transect, bleaching quadrat collections, and habitat complexity transect. These transects are similar to methods described in the Coral Reef Monitoring Protocol for Assessing Marine Protected Areas (Ahmadia et. al 2013) (Appendix 2). The benthic photo quadrat transect currently stores your photo identification results only. 

After selecting a method, you must fill in all required fields, marked with a red asterisk. Sites and Management Regimes that you added previously will appear in the dropdowns. A helper text is also availaible to all input fields. You can view this feature by clicking the info icon next to any relevant field. Each will have its own explanation, including text-filling examples.

Optional transect information includes label, sample time, reef slope, visibility, current, relative depth, tide, and any notes.

Each transect requires at least one ‘observer’, defined as a person who collected transect observations. This is a required field, and you can choose from the available list of users associated with your project. To remove an observer, uncheck the box next to the observer's name.

You can save a transect any time, online or offline. A disabled Save button indicates that no data have changed since the last time you saved the transect.

When online, you can validate and submit the transect. Offline, only the ‘Save’ button will appear.

Deleting a Transect

If you wish to delete a transect, click the "Delete Record" button at the bottom of any unsubmitted Sample Unit in Collecting. This will permanently remove the record and its observations from MERMAID, so be sure that you want to remove it before confirming.

Once you enter any new information into a transect, you can save it using the button in the upper right corner of the page. 

The save button is bright red when there is new information to be saved. If the button is gray and says “Saved”, you have already saved the transect and there is no new information to be saved.

After saving, you can always return to the transect to add or change data and information and resave.

If you try to navigate away from a page with unsaved information, you will see a warning on the screen that you have unsaved data – choose “Cancel” to stay on the transect and save; choose “Ok” to leave the transect unsaved.

Once you validate and successfully submit your transect, you can no longer edit it. If you need to edit a submitted transect, a project admin must un-submit it; if you are not the project admin, they will then need to transfer it to you for editing.

All sample units are always saved on your computer. Any time you are online, MERMAID also saves to a backed-up database in the Cloud.

Submitted transects can be exported to a tabular format in a .xlsx file for further analysis by clicking the ‘Export To XLSX’ button. Use the 'Filter Method' button next to the search bar to filter the submitted transects based on method. The total transects using the chosen method(s) will appear next to the filter button.

Data can only be exported when online and after transects have been submitted. Data in a test project will not be exported.

Make sure that the project is not a test project. Select which method you would like to download. All records of each sample unit with the same method will be combined into a single spreadsheet. This will begin downloading a .xlsx to your computer. All user levels (admin, observer, and read-only) can export data from a project.

To change a project from a "Test Project" to an actual project, click "Data Sharing" in the lefthand menu. Scroll down and uncheck the 'This is a test project' checkbox. Wait approximately 20 minutes for the data to sync with the server, and then you can export your data.

MERMAID also calculates standard deviations corresponding to estimated sample event (site and date) averages. You can find this information in the exported data, under the Sample Event (SE) tab, or by retrieving sample event data using mermaidr, which gives direct access to MERMAID data through R Studio. 

Questions? You can reach out to us when online via the Contact link at the bottom of any page. An offline (pdf) version of this documentation is also available on the left side of the same area.

MERMAID has a helpful R package for accessing and importing your data.

Although Excel or similar programs work for basic analyses, many scientists use programs like R (often in the RStudio environment) for larger datasets or more sophisticated analyses. The mermaidr is an R package specifically for working with MERMAID data and enables you to access your data from MERMAID, compile datasets from multiple MERMAID projects, and ingest legacy data into MERMAID.

If you would like more information and detailed instructions on usage, you can see the package website. You can also find a helpful list of package functions here. We also prepared an example of using the mermaidr package for analysis, which is demonstrated here. More information on how to ingest legacy data into MERMAID can be found in the Ingesting legacy data using R studio page.

If you are new to the R programming language, our new R users guide is a great place to start! If you find yourself stuck, please don’t hesitate to ask for help.

All access to MERMAID data, including that done by mermaidr, the MERMAID web application, and the dashboard, is done through an Application Programming Interface (API). If you need custom access to data, for example because you are creating a map or writing your own tool, you can use API documentation here as a guide. The documentation includes a getting started page on how to use the Insomnia API client file included with the MERMAID API code repository to access all API endpoints.

MERMAID supports the Global Fund for Coral Reefs, a blended finance instrument to mobilize action and resources to protect and restore coral reef ecosystems.

The Global Fund for Coral Reefs (GFCR) is a global partnership that aims to mobilize resources to support reef-positive businesses and promote coral reef conservation and restoration around the world (see Theory of Change).

MERMAID is supporting GFCR Programmes to collect baselines for 10 core Fund Indicators (F1 to F10) and 36 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.

This is now possible with the new integrated tools for the GFCR M&E Framework in GFCR projects on the MERMAID Collect app.

As a Convening Agent, you need to first sign up to a MERMAID account, login, then set up a project on MERMAID for your GFCR Programme. You can learn about how to create your MERMAID account and project on Getting Started.

Set up your GFCR project

1. When creating your project, use the name of your GFCR Programme (e.g., Miamba Yetu Program) for the project name on MERMAID.

2. Once your GFCR project has been created, open your project and go to 'Project Info' under 'Admin' on the left-hand menu bar.

3. Add a short description of your GFCR Programme in the 'Notes' field.

4. Add all organization names (including partner organizations) in the 'Organizations' field. If the organization name is not available in the dropdown options, you can suggest a new organization name to MERMAID. Read more on '4. Add Organizations' in Setting up a new project. Remember to include Global Fund for Coral Reefs in 'Organizations'. This is important for locating the GFCR Programmes portfolio on the MERMAID dashboard.

5. If you need to add other users that will enter ecological data or sets of Fund Indicators in the GFCR project, or that simply need to visualize data, go to 'Users' under 'Admin' and add users by entering their email address. You may change the role of each user inside this page between Admin, Collector or Read-Only, according to type of permissions they need. Learn more on 1. Add Users in Setting up a new project.

Only Admin users can create or edit GFCR reports and targets. Make sure to check each user's role to confirm they have the right permissions.

Enable the GFCR Indicators

GFCR Fund Indicators can be enabled by a single click inside your GFCR project.

1. To access the 'GFCR' page and create reports for Fund Indicators, you must first enable the GFCR Indicators by clicking the 'Enable GFCR Indicators for this project' button on the 'Project Info' page under the Admin section.

2. After you click the button, a 'GFCR' page will appear under the 'Admin' section on the left-hand menu bar.

3. Access this 'GFCR' page by clicking on the 'Go to GFCR Indicators' button from the 'Project Info' page or directly by clicking on the 'GFCR' page under the 'Admin' section on the lefthand menu bar.

On this page, you can create new sets of Fund Indicators as targets or reports, visualize them, make changes, and download them.

Create your target GFCR Fund Indicators

Each GFCR project should establish three sets of targets for the entire duration of the Programme. As new businesses / financial solutions are added to the Programme, these targets can be adjusted accordingly.

We recommend labelling each set of targets as "Phase 1 Target", "Mid-Term Target" and "Final Target" accordingly.

To create a new set of GFCR Fund Indicators as targets for your GFCR project:

1. Go to the 'GFCR' page, click on the '+ Create new' button, then select 'Target'.

2. Fill in the 'Title' and 'Reporting Date', click on the 'Create Indicator Set' button. Reporting date should should correspond to the end date of the reporting period for specific target.

3. You will visualize all 10 Fund Indicators (F1-F10) on the sidebar. Inside each section, add the values for each sub-indicator, then click on the 'Save' button on the top-right corner. If the value entered does not match the validation criteria (e.g., number is too large, not an integer number), the Fund Indicator will not be saved. You should verify your entry to ensure it is entered and saved correctly.

You can always make changes to your saved target indicators by selecting the set of targets your want to edit from list on the main 'GFCR' page.

Create a report of GFCR Fund Indicators

Each GFCR Programme will have a baseline report followed by bi-annual reports to track progress against established targets.

We recommend labelling each report as "Baseline," "Mid-Year Report," or "End-Year Report" accordingly.

The steps are very similar to creating a target for GFCR Fund Indicators:

1. Go to the 'GFCR' page, click on the '+ Create new' button, then select 'Report'.

2. Fill in the 'Title' and 'Reporting Date', click on the 'Create Indicator Set' button. The reporting date should correspond to the end date of the reporting period for either the baseline or bi-annual report (e.g., for an End-Year Report, the end date is December 31, so you would enter 31/12 followed by the year).

3. You will visualize all 10 Fund Indicators (F1-F10) on the sidebar. Inside each section, add the values for each sub-indicator, then click on the 'Save' button on the top-right corner. If the value entered does not match the validation criteria (e.g., number is too large, not an integer number), the Fund Indicator will not be saved. You should verify your entry to ensure it is entered and saved correctly.

Even if your GFCR Programme does not engage in specific activities related to any indicators, you are still required to report on all of them.

If your Programme does not engage in the activity, the default values are set to '0', and you may leave them as is if no related activities are being conducted.

You can always make changes to your saved reported indicators by selecting the report your want to edit from list on the main 'GFCR' page.

For all Fund Indicators, there is a 'Notes' field where you can add additional information to support the analysis and interpretation of your indicators, as well as for your annual narrative report to be submitted to GFCR.

MERMAID provides help text for each of the 36 sub-indicators to assist you with completing them. Simply click on the tool tip 'i' next to the sub-indicator or click on the 'Show Help' on the top right to show all the help texts for all sub-indicators.

For Fund Indicators F1 to F7, each sub-indicator value should represent the total aggregate for your entire Programme, reflecting the combined sum of all businesses or financial solutions included.

F1 Programme area

Click on 'F1 Programme area' on the sidebar and enter the total area of coral reefs (in km²) in the field 'F 1.1 Total area of coral reefs in GFCR Programme'.

Remember to report F 1.1 as cumulative totals across all reporting periods since the start of the GFCR Programme. If sub-indicator has no new value for a given report, simply enter the last reported value.

For example, add the newly included area from the current reporting period to the total reported previously. If 50 km² of coral reef area were recently added to the GFCR Program and 200 km² were reported earlier, you would report a total of 250 km² in the current report.

To obtain the reef area, we suggest using Allen Coral Atlas:

1. On the Atlas, enable the 'Reef Extent' map layer

2. Zoom into the area of interest

3. Use to polygon tool to outline your reef area

4. Once your polygon has been created, hit enter and a 'Stats' modal will pop out with the reef extent area calculated in km².

5. When logged in, you can name and save your polygon, as well as download data. Ensure to check the 'Reef extent' box before downloading.

F2 Conservation and management

Click on 'F2 Conservation and management' on the sidebar, then input the area sizes (in km²) for F 2.1 to F 2.5. Ensure you enter the correct areas, as there are distinctions between coral reef areas and total areas.

To obtain the reef areas and total areas (in km²), you can use Allen Coral Atlas by following the steps on F1 Project area.

In addition, there are other global platforms and databases to extract data for Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), Other Effective area-based Conservation Measures (OECMS), and Locally-Managed Marine Protected Areas (LMMAs) (e.g., Protected Planet, Marine Protection Atlas, Resources Watch). You can also refer to regional and local databases.

Remember to report F 2.1 to F 2.5 as cumulative totals across all reporting periods since the start of the GFCR Programme. If sub-indicators have no new values for a given report, simply enter the last reported values.

F3 Restoration

Click on 'F3 Restoration' on the sidebar, then input the values and area size (in km²) for F 3.1 to F 3.6.

For 'F 3.1 Area of effective coral reef restoration', to obtain the area of effective coral reef restoration (in km²), you can use Allen Coral Atlas by following the steps on 'F1 Programme area'. This indicator is a subset of F1 and used to measure only the area of coral restoration activities in a GFCR Programme.

For F 3.5, the number of people engaged in coral reef restoration is disaggregated by gender (i.e., men and women), youth (between the ages of 15 and 24 as defined by the United Nations) and Indigenous peoples.

Even if your GFCR Programme does not engage in any restoration activities, you are still required to report this indicator. The default values are set to '0', and you can leave them as they are if no restoration activities are being conducted.

Remember to report F3.1 to F 3.6 as cumulative totals across all reporting periods since the start of the GFCR Programme. If sub-indicators have no new values for a given report, simply enter the last reported values.

F4 Coral reef health

MERMAID will automatically add your coral reef health indicators from the ecological data you entered in the same project.

Click on 'F4 Coral reef health' on the sidebar, then input the values for coral reef health indicators F 4.1 to F 4.3.

If you have submitted ecological coral reef data for all your GFCR-associated sites inside this GFCR project, you can use the automated calculation tool for reef health indicators:

1. Select the start and end date for the 'Reporting date range'. The start date should correspond to the date of the initial reef surveys (baseline), and the end date should be the date of the most recent reef surveys conducted within the reporting period.

2. Average live hard coral cover, macroalgae cover and reef fish biomass are automatically calculated for all submitted surveys within that period

3. Fields F 4.1, F 4.2 and F 4.3 are automatically populated with results. This way you do not need to calculate any value manually.

   Another option is to manually input each sub-indicator if your surveys are in other projects on MERMAID or stored in a different database.

Be sure to report F 4.1 to F 4.3 as averages based on the most recent surveys. If there are no new surveys available for this reporting period then enter previously reported averages.

If your GFCR Program includes ecological data from other projects on MERMAID, the automated tool for calculating reef health indicators will not be available. However, you can use the mermaidr package in R to access this data, provided you have authenticated access to all relevant projects. This will allow you to calculate averages for all indicators across GFCR Programme sites for the reporting period. For instructions on using mermaidr, please refer to the documentation.

Alternatively, you may download an individual XLSX file from each project on MERMAID and manually calculate the averages for the reporting date range in any analysis applications.

Where feasible, include the data in the XLSX file used to calculate these reef health indicators as an appendix to your narrative annual reports if they are not accessible in your GFCR project on MERMAID. In the 'Notes' field, add details about how these averages were calculated and how they will be submitted as raw data to the GFCR.

If you want to learn more about submitting ecological data in your GFCR project on MERMAID, please read the sections Getting Started, Collect data, Validate and submit data, and Manage your data, in our documentation.

F5 Communities

Click on 'F5 Communities' on the sidebar, then input the values for sub-indicators F 5.1 to F 5.6.

For F 5.4, the number of local practicioners is disaggregated by gender (i.e., men and women), youth (between the ages of 15 and 24 as defined by the United Nations) and Indigenous peoples.

For F 5.6, you should only report the number of national policies linked to GFCR engagement that have been finalized by the time of reporting. If Programmes are not planning national policy targets, or if a policy is underway but not yet finalized should enter '0'.

Remember to report F 5.1 to F 5.6 as cumulative totals across all reporting periods since the start of the GFCR Programme. If sub-indicators have no new values for a given report, simply enter the last reported values.

F6 People

Click on 'F6 People' on the sidebar, then input the values for sub-indicators F 6.1.

For F 6.1, the number of direct jobs created is disaggregated by gender (i.e., men and women), youth (between the ages of 15 and 24 as defined by the United Nations) and Indigenous peoples.

Please note that the sub-indicator F 6.2 "Number of people with increased income and/or nutrition" will no longer be required starting with the 2024 End-Year Report. For consistency, you may leave the F 6.2 fields as "0" on the MERMAID webforms. For more information, please contact the GFCR Secretariat.

Remember to report F 6.1 as cumulative totals across all reporting periods since the start of the GFCR Programme. If sub-indicators have no new values for a given report, simply enter the last reported values.

F7 Climate Response

Click on 'F7 Climate Response' on the sidebar, then input the values for sub-indicators F 7.1 to F 7.4.

Remember to report F 7.1 to F 7.4 as cumulative totals across all reporting periods since the start of the GFCR Programme. If sub-indicators have no new values for a given report, simply enter the last reported values.

For Fund Indicators F8, F9, F10, data is disaggregated by business or finance solution.

Businesses / Finance solutions

You will enter each business or finance solution from your GFCR Programme separately and disaggregated by sector.

For each business or finance solution:

1. Go to '+ Add finance solution' to add a new business or finance solution.

2. Enter name of solution in the 'Finance solution / business name' field.

3. Select sector type for solution from dropdown options in the 'Sector' field.

4. In the 'Used an incubator?' field, choose 'Yes: GFCR-funded', 'Yes: non-GFCR-funded' or 'No' to indicate whether an incubator was used for development and identify its funding source.

   If your Programme has developed a GFCR-funded incubator or accelerator, please enter the incubator or accelerator itself as a solution, as well as each business or financial solution it supports individually.

   If your business or finance solution utilized an incubator before the start of the GFCR Programme, you should select 'No' for this field—unless the business or finance solution is also using a GFCR-funded incubator during the Programme period.

   If your GFCR Programme includes a GFCR-funded incubator or accelerator, it should be reported as a separate finance solution. However, when reporting investment and revenue for the incubator or accelerator, do not aggregate the investments and revenues of the businesses or finance solutions it supports. Instead, report only the investments and revenues generated directly by the incubator or accelerator, such as from service provision.

   It is important to ensure that incubators, accelerators, or technical assistance facilities (TAFs) are designed to become financially sustainable by the end of the Programme, with revenue generation as a key objective.

5. Choose 'Yes' or 'No' to indicate whether the solution is a local enterprise in the 'Local enterprise' field.

6. Choose 'Yes' or 'No' to indicate whether the solution uses the Gender 2x Criteria in the 'Gender 2x Criteria' field.

   Each business / financial solution should be well-acquainted with the Gender 2X Challenge and its Criteria. An assessment can be conducted to determine whether the solution meet these Criteria thresholds here.

   While GFCR does not mandate a 2X Certification, it expects businesses and financial solutions to strive toward meeting these standards and to evaluate their alignment with the 2X criteria.

7. Select all sustainable finance mechanisms that apply to the business / finance solution in the 'Sustainable finance mechanisms' field. One solution may have several mechanisms.

8. Identifying the cycle stage (e.g., launch, growth, maturity) of each business or finance solution is important and can be documented in the 'Notes' field for each entry, as well as in the annual narrative report. This would give more context for determining its success against investments and revenues.

You will have access to a list of all the businesses and financial solutions added on the 'Businesses / Finance Solutions' page. You can make changes to this list at any time.

As new solutions are added to the Programme, include them in your subsequent reports.

Investments

The GFCR Programmes categorize investments into three distinct stages: anticipated, committed, and secured.

Secured – investment funds transferred and are with the Convening Agents.

Committed – contract or agreement signed but funds have not yet been transferred. There is a formal obligation to provide funding for a certain period, but the funds have not been deployed yet.

Anticipated – funding expected or planned to occur in the future and discussions are underway, but no formal agreement has been signed.

Convening agents should report only secured or committed funds in MERMAID as data for Fund Indicators F 8.1, F 8.2, F 8.3 or F 9.1 – meaning that there is a signed agreement or the funds have already been received. Anticipated funds can be reported in the annual narrative reports.

You will enter both committed or secured investments for each business / finance solution from your GFCR Programme separately and disaggregated by investment source (i.e., GFCR, philanthropy, private, public) and type.

For each business or finance solution:

1. Go to '+ Add investment' to add a new investment for a solution.

2. In 'Business / Finance solution name', choose the solution from the list of businesses and finance solutions previously created. Remember, you will report investments for each solution.

3. Choose the source from the dropdown options (i.e., GFCR, Philanthropy, Private and Public) in the 'Investment source' field.

   If a solution receives investment from multiple sources (e.g., both GFCR and private), you will need to enter each investment separately for this solution (e.g., once for the GFCR investment and once for the private investment).

4. Choose the type from the dropdown options in the 'Investment type' field.

   If a solution receives multiple types of investment from a single source (e.g., a grant and technical assistance from GFCR), you will need to enter each type separately under that specific investment source for the solution—for example, once for the grant and once for the technical assistance from GFCR.

5. Enter the accumulated investment amount in the 'Investment amount' field.

Remember to report committed or secured investments as cumulative totals across all reporting periods since the start of the GFCR Programme. If there are no new investments for a given report, simply enter the last reported investment amounts.

1. If available, please add cumulative anticipated investment amounts to the "Notes" section and ensure they are included in your annual narrative reports.

You will have access to all the investments listed on the 'Investments' page. You can modify these entries at any time.

Revenues

For your GFCR Programme, you will enter the revenues for each business or finance solution separately, disaggregated by revenue type. Revenues for individual businesses or finance solutions should be reported independently and only once to prevent double counting.

For each business or finance solution:

1. Go to '+ Add revenue' to add a new revenue stream for a solution.

2. In 'Business / Finance solution name', choose the solution from the list of businesses and finance solutions previously created. Remember, you will report revenues for each solution.

3. Choose the type from the dropdown options in the 'Revenue type' field.

   If a solution receives revenues from multiple streams (e.g., both biodiversity offsets and blue bonds), you will need to enter each revenue stream separately for this solution (e.g., once for the biodiversity offsets and once for blue bonds).

4. Choose 'Yes' or 'No' to indicate whether the revenue is sustainable in the 'Sustainable revenue stream' field.

5. Enter the accumulated revenue amount for the reporting period in the 'Revenue amount' field.

Be sure to report revenues as cumulative totals across all reporting periods since the start of the GFCR Programme. If there are no new revenues for a given report, simply enter the last reported revenue amounts.

You will have access to all the revenues listed on the 'Revenues' page. You can modify these entries at any time.

If your GFCR Programme has a GFCR-funded incubator or accelerator, it is highly recommended to track and report on solutions even after they exit your GFCR-funded incubator or accelerator. Doing so helps demonstrate the long-term impact and return on investment beyond the initial funding period. By monitoring post-incubation success, you can attract further investment opportunities and showcase the added value of the solutions, which is crucial for sustaining growth and scaling beyond 2030.

Download your Fund Indicator targets and reports

After creating your targets, baselines, and progress reports, you can download all your reports from the main 'GFCR' page. Simply click on 'Download' to obtain an XLSX file containing all your reports. In the XLSX file, each tab corresponds to a specific Fund Indicator.

View GFCR projects on MERMAID Dashboard

To view all projects tagged with Global Fund for Coral Reefs:

1. Go to the MERMAID Dashboard

2. Select the 'Filter' icon on the left-hand toolbar

3. Filter organizations to 'Global Fund for Coral Reefs' in the 'Organizations' field

To learn more about the Global Fund for Coral Reefs, visit the GFCR webpage. 

If you have questions regarding MERMAID or would like to receive further support for using the GFCR M&E tool, contact us when online.