Planet Labs PBC, a provider of daily data and insights about Earth, and The Nature Conservancy (TNC), a global environmental organization dedicated to conserving the lands and waters on which all life depends, announced collaborative efforts on the Blue Carbon Explorer, a digital tool developed by TNC that aims to map mangrove and seagrass blue carbon around the world.
The tool also enables governments and coastal managers to make data-informed decisions on the protection and restoration of coastal ecosystems.
The Blue Carbon Explorer is a Google Earth Engine app developed by TNC that leverages field-collected data from drone and satellite imagery, including Planet’s SkySat and PlanetScope imagery, to help identify key areas for restoration and protection. The tool helps to visualize if these ecosystems are degraded or healthy, enabling analysts to determine the best management decisions to aid in their conservation and restoration.
This collaborative work has already started to reveal insights into changing coastal habitats throughout the Caribbean, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea. For governments, the maps have revealed previously unknown regions of mangrove and seagrass habitats, helping them better account for their natural resources and potential blue carbon stocks.
Leveraging Planet data and new techniques in artificial intelligence (AI), as well as lessons learned from the Blue Carbon Explorer, these insights can be used to better understand coastal habitats around the world.
