Why are we losing mangroves?
The mangrove ecosystem is one of the most valuable ecosystems on earth. They help mitigate climate change with their capacity to store carbon in the atmosphere. However, the state of the world’s mangroves is declining by 0.2 to 0.7% every year. In relation to that, Super Typhoon Rai (Odette) greatly affected the Philippines last December 2021. The aftermath includes destroyed Philippine mangroves in most areas to a great extent leaving about P6.9 billion worth of damage. Under those circumstances, Oceanus partnered with the University of Manchester to incorporate our mangrove restoration project with technology.
Introducing Mangrove.World: A mangrove restoration video game
The main goal of creating the prototype of this video game, Mangrove.World, is to engage the people toward sustainability missions. Specifically, using video games as a medium for this objective. This process of putting together the interactive video game is made possible with Keep•It•Human (KiH); a social venture that creates video games for digital altruism. Particularly, they make use of digital technologies to benefit others for a sustainable future. Another company, Imago Software of The University of Manchester also designs engaging and functional software for clients all over the world.
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Fieldwork in the Philippine mangroves ecosystem
At this point, a series of preparations for this video game includes research work, design of the overall features, creation of the soundtrack and music, and pilot testing. Afterward, in July 2022, the Oceanus team together with Ricardo Climent, a Professor of Interactive Music Composition at the University of Manchester, UK, head out to Negros Oriental and La Union in the Philippines to record the sound of the mangrove ecosystem to create an immersive experience in the development of the game.
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