This article builds on What does an optimal site profile look like?, which covers the general standards every site on Restor is held to. If you're applying for the Mangrove Breakthrough Call for Projects, read that article first — everything below adds mangrove- and Blue Carbon-specific guidance on top of it.
What makes up a mangrove site profile?
Just like any Restor site, your mangrove site profile has two parts:
Site information: description, metadata, photos, and (if applicable) Blue Carbon documentation
Site polygon: the boundary that represents your actual mangrove or coastal restoration/conservation area
A strong mangrove profile gets both parts right, and does so in a way that's specific to your site, reviewers and other users on Restor should be able to look at your profile and clearly understand what mangrove or coastal work is happening, where, and how you know.
1. Site information
Description tells the real story of your mangrove work. Explain what habitat you're restoring or conserving, what stage the work is at, and why it matters. A description written specifically for your site, with real detail, reads very differently from a generic template, and it's what makes your project discoverable and credible to funders, researchers, and partners.
Complete metadata. Fill in Site Type, Intervention Type, Site Status, and the other required fields accurately. These fields aren't just formalities, they're what let others understand and compare your project properly, and they affect how your boundary should be drawn (see below).
Site Type reflects the actual scale of your work. If your project covers several distinct mangrove interventions across a wider area, represent it as a landscape (see Understanding Site Types and Intervention Types on Restor) with each individual intervention mapped separately within it, rather than describing scattered work as a single site.
Blue Carbon documentation is genuine and site-specific. If your project involves Blue Carbon accounting, include a screenshot or evidence that's unique to that particular site and clearly supports the claim being made.
2. Site polygon
The same polygon standards from the main site profile article apply to mangrove sites: your polygon is the site, and it's what all the scientific data, hectare reporting, and site metrics are calculated from.
A good mangrove polygon:
Closely traces the real mangrove or coastal boundary of the site — following the actual edge of the habitat and intervention area, not an approximation
Is scoped to the real footprint of the work on the ground, not a wider surrounding landscape, jurisdiction, or region
Sits in a location and at a scale that's consistent with the site's description and documentation
If you want to represent a broader coastal region containing several individual mangrove sites, create it as a separate site with Site Type set to Landscape or Area of Interest, and use the description to explain that it's a general region rather than a single area of active intervention. See How do I draw a site? for step-by-step instructions.
If your site is still in the concept or planning stage
Not every mangrove project has a finalized area yet. If your site is still at the concept, development, or planning stage and you don't have a definitive boundary to draw, that's fine — represent it honestly rather than guessing at a precise polygon:
Draw your boundary as close as you can to where the intervention is likely to happen, based on the best information available to you at this stage.
Set the Site Type to Area of Interest rather than Restoration or Conservation, since the intervention hasn't been confirmed or started yet.
Say so clearly in the description — mention that the project is in the concept, development, or planning stage, what's still being finalized, and when you expect to have a definitive area. This gives anyone viewing the site accurate context instead of the impression that active work is already underway.
As your project progresses and the boundary becomes definitive, update the Site Type and polygon to reflect the actual intervention area.
Why this matters
Everything in a site's Scientific Data tab — biodiversity, carbon, water, risk, land cover, and socio-economic data — is calculated directly from your polygon and metadata using Google Earth Engine. For mangrove and Blue Carbon projects specifically, this data underpins how funders and reviewers understand and trust your work. A profile that's accurate, specific, and genuinely reflects what's happening on the ground will hold up to scrutiny far better than one that's built to look complete at a glance.
Before you apply
Review your profile against both this article and the general site profile guidance before submitting to the Mangrove Breakthrough Call for Projects. If you're unsure how to represent your site or draw your polygon, reach out to us at support@restor.eco, we're happy to help before you apply.