Page 197 - AI for Good Innovate for Impact

AI for Good Innovate for Impact

2 Use Case Description

2�1 Description

Mangroves play a crucial role in storing carbon—up to four times more than terrestrial forests— Change 4.2-Climate
and protecting coastal areas. Côte d’Ivoire has lost 95% of its mangroves in just 50 years.
Traditional monitoring approaches relying on manual surveys and optical imagery face serious
limitations due to cloud cover and cost.

This project introduces an AI-powered system combining:
• Radar (Sentinel-1), optical (Sentinel-2), and LiDAR (GEDI) satellite imagery,
• Supervised machine learning models trained with 300 ground-truth inventory plots,
• Scalable, near-real-time data outputs including biomass maps and carbon estimates.

Output support:

• Conservation actors and government agencies,
• Integration of mangrove data into carbon markets (e.g., REDD+),
• Climate resilience by helping vulnerable coastal communities respond to mangrove loss.

Use Case Status: Ongoing pilots in Côte d’Ivoire (2024–2025), expansion to Senegal underway
(2025–2026)

Partner
• data354 – Lead partner (AI model development, field integration, remote sensing)
• Lacuna Fund – Funding via “Climate and Forests Machine Learning Datasets” program
• ActumDev – Local field data collection teams in Côte d’Ivoire

2�2 Benefits of Use case
• Scalable monitoring to support climate mitigation via accurate carbon stock estimates
and early detection of deforestation.
• Supports integration of mangrove conservation into verified carbon markets and builds
climate resilience through informed planning.
• Facilitates timely, data-driven decisions to restore mangrove ecosystems critical for coastal
protection and emission reduction.

2�3 Future Work

• Certification Alignment: Align biomass estimations with Verra and Gold Standard
protocols for carbon credit eligibility
• Geographic Expansion: Rollout to Senegal’s tropical forests and broader West Africa
• Model Enhancement: Use of additional data and deep learning (e.g., CNNs) for improved
accuracy
• Early Warning Systems: Real-time alerts for degradation events

Capacity Building: Collaborations with governments and universities for knowledge transfer
and local expertise development

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