Mapping the World's Mangrove Forests, Accurately and at Scale
This project uses advanced GIS and remote sensing to map mangrove forests globally with high spatial accuracy — turning satellite data into evidence that feeds directly into mangrove conservation efforts on the ground.
About the Project
Camilla Foggia's research combines high-resolution satellite imagery, spectral analysis, and machine learning to accurately map the extent of mangrove forests around the world. By producing precise, repeatable maps of where mangroves grow — and how that extent changes over time — this work gives conservation teams, land managers, and policymakers the evidence base they need to protect these ecosystems where it matters most.
The methodology is built to be applied globally: it is designed to work across different coastlines, imagery conditions, and mangrove types, rather than being tuned to a single site.
Mangroves and Climate Change
Mangrove forests are among the most effective carbon sinks on Earth. They sequester and store carbon in both their biomass and the waterlogged soils beneath them — often referred to as "blue carbon" — at rates that far exceed most terrestrial forests. Protecting and accurately tracking mangrove extent is therefore not just a biodiversity priority: it is a direct, measurable lever for mitigating climate change.
Mangroves store carbon in biomass and sediment at rates several times higher than most tropical rainforests, per unit area.
Mangrove forests buffer coastlines from storm surge and erosion, protecting the communities that depend on them.
Mangroves continue to be lost to clearing and coastal development — making accurate, up-to-date mapping essential for conservation.
Mangrove Mapper
Mangrove Mapper is the software platform built to support this research — a browser-based tool for running the full mangrove-mapping workflow without writing any code. It draws on Sentinel-2 satellite imagery and Google Earth Engine to take an analyst from a raw area of interest to a validated mangrove map.
- Draw an area of interest, plus mangrove and non-mangrove reference sites, directly on the map
- Automatic water and spectral-signature analysis (MNDWI, Spectral Angle Mapper) to narrow down candidate mangrove areas
- A Random Forest classification ensemble trained on your reference sites, with accuracy and confidence reporting
- Download results as shapefiles, GeoTIFF rasters, or a summary report
Research Team
This project is a collaboration between the lead researcher, her academic supervisory team, and EO4Ecology, who provide software and systems support for the Mangrove Mapper platform.
Camilla Foggia
GIS & remote sensing, mangrove forest mapping
[PI Name]
[Co-Guide Name]
[Lab Member Name]
[Lab Member Name]
EO4Ecology
Builds and maintains the Mangrove Mapper platform
