Singapore Launches AI Program to Save Asia's Mangroves

Mangroves are climate superheroes that store carbon four times more efficiently than regular forests, but South-east Asia has lost more than 30 percent of them in just 40 years.

Now Singapore is fighting back with technology. The World Wide Fund for Nature Singapore and the Economic Development Board launched a groundbreaking program on January 15 that uses satellites, artificial intelligence, and geospatial data to solve the biggest problems in mangrove restoration.

The numbers behind the challenge are stark. Globally, half of all mangrove restoration projects fail because saplings die, projects aren't designed properly, or they can't grow beyond small pilot sites. That means millions of dollars and countless hours of work simply wash away.

The new Blue Carbon Support Programme tackles three major hurdles. First, it helps accurately measure how much carbon these marine ecosystems actually store, which is surprisingly difficult because two-thirds of the carbon hides underground in the seabed. Second, it helps teams reach remote coastal areas where mangroves grow. Third, it dramatically improves sapling survival rates.

That third goal is already showing remarkable results. By copying how mangrove forests naturally work, nurseries in Malaysia have boosted their sapling survival rate to 90 percent. The program aims to spread this success across restoration sites in the Philippines, Indonesia, and beyond.

The technology component is equally exciting. Singapore's space office announced a grant on the same day, inviting researchers to develop satellite-based methods for measuring biomass and verifying carbon credits. This matters because accurate carbon tracking makes these projects credible and attractive to investors who want to fund climate solutions.

The Ripple Effect

The program reaches far beyond environmental wins. Local communities in 47 WWF mangrove sites are gaining new livelihoods through seaweed farming and site patrols. When mangrove restoration succeeds, fishing communities see fish populations rebound, coastal villages gain protection from storms and erosion, and entire regions build climate resilience.

The carbon credit angle makes the economics work too. Each credit represents one tonne of carbon dioxide that mangroves remove from the atmosphere, creating a funding stream that sustains long-term conservation. With better technology to track and verify these credits, more investors can confidently support restoration projects across Asia.

Rueban Manokara from WWF's carbon finance task force emphasized that technology is transforming what's possible. Satellite remote sensing eliminates the errors from manual sampling. AI modeling can predict which sites will thrive. Digital monitoring tracks progress over years without requiring constant field visits.

The program partners technology startups, research organizations, and carbon project developers to test innovative solutions and train project teams. The goal is simple but powerful: make mangrove restoration reliable, scalable, and successful enough to reverse decades of loss across an entire region.