As a European Studies student with a budding passion for the environment, diving into a world of environmental and marine biology jargon was jarring. I remember hearing about Oceanus a year prior when I worked with Grounded PH and Oceanus’ collaboration for the Grounded Radio podcast episodes of Ocean Adventures With Cory and There Are Cities Underwater. To say that I was enthralled is an understatement which is why I was so ecstatic when I got the news that I could intern at Oceanus and be a part of their team. The Organization One of the things that surprised me...
Philippine mangroves conservation through tech: Mangrove.World
Why are we losing mangroves? The mangrove ecosystem is one of the most valuable ecosystems on earth. They help mitigate climate change with their capacity to store carbon in the atmosphere. However, the state of the world’s mangroves is declining by 0.2 to 0.7% every year. In relation to that, Super Typhoon Rai (Odette) greatly affected the Philippines last December 2021. The aftermath includes destroyed Philippine mangroves in most areas to a great extent leaving about P6.9 billion worth of damage. Under those circumstances, Oceanus partnered with the University of Manchester to incorporate our mangrove restoration project with technology. Introducing...
Presentation at the 2nd National Blue Carbon Symposium
Blue Carbon Initiative Seagrass and mangroves are the coastal blue carbon ecosystems of the tropical regions. With this, the BlueCARES Project, a research project of the Philippines, Japan, and Indonesia organized its 2nd National Blue Carbon Symposium, an avenue where scientists and practitioners engage and discuss climate-related issues and initiatives. Mangrove Restoration Oceanus Conservation focuses on the blue carbon initiative and provides a nature-based solution as a way to mitigate climate change. Particularly, we aim to restore blue carbon habitats such as mangroves by working with local communities in the Philippines. In addition, our mission is to contribute to the...
Spotlighting Mangroves in the United Nations Ocean Conference 2022
With the onslaught of the Covid-19 pandemic, many of the world’s deep-rooted problems arose. Evidently, climate change, pollution, and the health system are just a few of the many issues that the pandemic is highlighting. This require a major structural change and shared solutions that are rooted in the Sustainable Development Goals in order to have a more concrete goal in mind. In light of this, the United Nations and the Governments of Kenya and Portugal hosted an Ocean Conference that aims to distinguish and set in motion a global ocean action. The conference held at Altice Arena, Lisbon, Portugal on...
Building a Better World: Mangroves in Minecraft
For over a decade, humans have been responsible for over 60% of mangrove loss. It painted a painful picture of the possibility of losing more mangroves and the ability to restore them. However, great efforts in restoration, replanting, and conservation had made these past few years. With this, there has been a slow decline in the loss of mangrove forests globally. One of these efforts is Minecraft’s newest addition of mangroves in their latest update. The Wild Update: Mangrove Forests June 2022 – In the Overworld, Minecraft finally reveals that they are adding mangroves in their newest The Wild update....
First Smart Buoy deployed in the Philippines
What is the issue with coral reefs? The Philippines is found within the Coral Triangle, the epicenter of marine biodiversity. Our country along with Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste, and the Solomon Islands. The Philippines is home to over 500 species of stony corals. In addition, more than 2,000 marine species are associated with coral reefs! Given our abundance of these stony corals, they are not susceptible to climate change and consequently, the increasing temperature. This, in turn, affects global sea levels due to ice glaciers melting. Moreover, it affects wildlife and their habitats, and even extreme weather events...
Blue Carbon Citizen Science Training in Lobo, Batangas
Blue carbon is the carbon that is stored in mangroves and seagrass, which are blue carbon ecosystems. For this reason, mangrove and seagrass carbon storage are extremely high. These ecosystems have a great capacity to take up and store carbon in the atmosphere. What a great way to mitigate climate change! Furthermore, participating in citizen science training and projects is equally important. With this, all of us have a great contribution to the community and scientific research. Citizen Science Training BlueCARES’ network called BCnet, is organizing citizen science training as part of their blue carbon initiative. They invited Oceanus Conservation...
Mangrove Restoration in Northern Mindanao and La Union
Oceanus Conservation focuses on the blue carbon initiative and nature-based solutions as a way to mitigate climate change. Our mangrove restoration projects aim to restore and protect mangrove forests by working with local communities in the Philippines. Two of our project sites are communities in Looc, Salay, Northern Mindanao, and Aringay, La Union. Mangroves are important for these communities. These habitats protect them from intense storms and typhoons and also prevent coastal erosion. Furthermore, mangrove ecosystems also help with their own livelihood. However, there is a loss of mangrove forests in these areas due to the storm surges that recently...
New collaborations for 2022: Oceanus pairs up with non-profit partners and local communities for mangrove restoration projects
Oceanus conservation is a non-profit organization in the Philippines that focuses on advocating for the protection and restoration of blue carbon habitats. This includes mangrove forests and their surrounding wildlife. We follow nature and science-based solutions and methods for the restoration of these ecosystems. In our projects, we work with the local communities and hopefully achieve net-zero emissions. With this, we have also worked with our non-profit partners to help us achieve our goals. Non-profit partners Together with our partners, we were able to achieve these goals and create a bigger impact on our community. Currently, we have partnered with...
Ocean Literacy: Launching of Ocean Adventures with Cory Volume 2!
The Philippines is one of the mega-diverse countries in the world with high species endemism. However, there is a lack of ocean literacy and limited access to marine environmental education in most of the educational institutions around the country. In 2020, we started an initiative of creating an educational children’s storybook that tackles the lack of awareness of coastal ecosystems, focusing on the importance of coral reefs. Together with the Blue Warriors, a youth club in Zamboanguita, Negros Oriental; Alimanguan Sagip Pawikan, a community-based turtle conservation organization in Palawan; and a local village in Dapa, Siargao, we have successfully donated...