The present synthesis report demonstrates that since 1998 APN has provided US $750,000 in funding for twenty coastal research projects in the region. Of these, eleven projects had coastal issues as their main focus and nine projects dealt with the coast as a cross-cutting theme. Two approaches were used to assess the achievements of these projects. First, an independent reviewer assessed the eleven core coastal projects against the six goals in the APN First Strategic Plan. Second, a group of international coastal experts conducted a separate review of all twenty coastal projects against the same goals.