Rationale

      Batangas Province, one of the provinces bordering the Verde Island Passage, remains poorly mapped and understudied. Without clear information on where seagrass meadows and coral reefs are or how much carbon they store, it becomes difficult to protect them. This project helps fill that gap by using satellite data to map these habitats and estimate their carbon sequestration potential, providing the science needed to guide conservation efforts and support the creation of future Marine Protected Areas.

Objectives

    To develop a predictive model for seagrass and coral mapping through satellite image classification and estimate seagrass CO2 sequestration potential, which will be used for future monitoring of the sites.

Accomplishments

• The project was presented in the 18th National Symposium on Marine Science held at University of the Philippines – Cebu, last July 10-12, 2025
• The ground-truthing assessments for cold-dry season were conducted last November 3-7 and 17-21, 2025; December 8-9, 15-17, 2025