On 24-26 March 2026, the Philippine Mangrove Conference was held at Quezon City, Philippines with a theme “Ensuring Accountable Pathways for Resilient Communities”. After 6 years, diverse sectors engaged in mangrove science and conservation reconvened to evaluate commitments, showcase innovative projects and best practices, and forge evidence-based pathways for protection and restoration of Philippine mangrove forests.
Some of the key highlights of the Philippine Mangrove Conference is the launching of the Philippines National Blue Carbon Action Partnership (NBCAP) Roadmap and the Blue Carbon Ecosystems Explorer.
THE TEAM GOES TO THE PHILIPPINE MANGROVE CONFERENCE
We are proud to share the participation of our team to the Philippine Mangrove Conference 2026.
Dr. Severino Salmo III set the scene of the conference by presenting the National State of the Mangroves Summit. In his talk, Dr. Salmo provided an overview of the history of national efforts to protect mangrove ecosystems, current status of Philippine mangroves, and calls to action.
Dr. Maria Elisa Gerona-Daga (below left) and Mr. Sean Manalo (below right) presented their poster presentations. Dr. Gerona-Daga discussed a topic on “Physiological Stress of Mangrove Seedlings in Abandoned Ponds” which formed part of her PhD dissertation. Mr. Manalo talked about his current research work on “Patterns of Mangrove Blue Carbon in Fisheries Management Areas 6 and 9”.
Three members of our team participated in Dash Talks on Mangrove Innovations – an activity that allows sharing new developments and tools to improve mangrove conservation and restoration efforts.
Ms. Raia Gallardo, one of the co-founders of Bangon Baybay, presented their flagship project, Bio-Bakawan, which is an innovative nature-based solution to assist mangrove rehabilitation in Agojo, Capiz (below left).
PhD Candidate Ms. Dawn Satumbaga (below, upper left) and Mr. Manalo (below, lower left) shared two open access data analytics platform to make informed decision making on mangrove conservation and restoration. Ms. Satumbaga presented Blue Map, a blue carbon restoration map and database that allows user to track previous and ongoing restoration projects in the Philippines. While Mr. Manalo introduced BlueCarT or the Philippines Blue Carbon Tracker which permits users to access data on blue carbon values such as carbon stocks in natural, colonized, and planted mangrove stands.
The blue carbon data analytics platforms can be accessed here: Blue Map and BlueCarT.
The Philippine Mangrove Conference 2026 showed that collaborative efforts, community-centered, and science-based approaches are essential to ensuring resilient coastal ecosystems and communities.
Mangrove Ecology 