Marine ecosystem conservation
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Mangrove restoration and conservation
Mangroves are crucial for stabilizing shorelines and shielding local populations from extreme weather events, but they are facing unprecedented threats, with half of the world’s mangroves at risk of collapse due to human behavior and climate change. In Tanzania, mangrove forests are threatened by clearing and overharvesting for various purposes. Addressing this, our project aims to raise awareness about the effects of mangrove clearing and overharvesting, and establish conservation and restoration activities involving young scientists, local communities, and organizations. To inform our efforts, we collect data on environmental variables, conduct soil structure studies, research carbon credits, and identify resilient mangrove species, using this data to inform decision-making and optimize project strategies.
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Smart Technology Utilization
The main focus of this project is to integrate artificial intelligence (AI) and remote sensing (RS) towards climate change into the ongoing mangrove conservation and restoration efforts along the Tanzanian coast. With the use of various tools like sensors and satellites, the project seeks to obtain important environmental variables such as the air and sea surface temperatures, sea surface height, salinity, and freshwater influx. The type of data that will be collected will assist in determining the best areas suitable for mangrove restoration. Regarding the latter, AI will entail the analysis of patterns in carbon stocks, recovery of mangroves after inclement weather events, and resistance of species, allowing for understanding how these parameters influence coastal and mangrove ecology. The outcomes of these studies will assist in the development of climate-smart conservation approaches, with the end goal being to maintain and protect mangroves as an ecosystem-based solution to climate change.