Ecosystem Extent, Status, Protection and Management Services

Marine ecosystems—including mangroves, seagrasses, coral reefs, and salt marshes—are essential for biodiversity, shoreline protection, carbon storage, and supporting livelihoods. However, they are increasingly under threat from climate change, pollution, land reclamation, and unsustainable resource use.

Earth Observation (EO) plays a vital role in mapping and assessing coastal and marine ecosystems, enabling large-scale, long-term monitoring. High-resolution satellite imagery provides precise mapping of ecosystem boundaries, facilitating continuous assessment of their extent, fragmentation, and degradation over time. Monitoring changes in vegetation health, density, and coverage helps identify early signs of stress or recovery.

EO also supports ecosystem protection by enabling the identification of conservation priorities and tracking the effectiveness of protected areas. EO-based analysis can detect illegal deforestation, encroachment, and land conversion within or near sensitive habitats. In ecosystem management, this data is crucial for designing nature-based solutions, restoring degraded areas, and integrating ecosystems into spatial planning.

Furthermore, assessments of ecosystem extent and status contribute to ecosystem accounting frameworks, which link ecosystem health to economic indicators. This allows decision-makers to integrate the value of natural capital into national planning and policy. The outputs from this use case form the basis for sustainable resource management, biodiversity conservation, and long-term resilience planning.