Publications

Digdo, A.A., Astari, E., Arinda, B.R., and Cahyono, T. (2025), BIO Web of Conferences.

Published in BIO Web of Conferences, this study explores the use of drones and artificial intelligence to detect dugongs under limited-resource conditions in North Sulawesi, Indonesia. Combining CMS Dugong Questionnaire data, seagrass habitat mapping from the Allen Coral Atlas, drone surveys, and AI-assisted image analysis, the researchers conducted 28 flights covering 12.09 km² and recorded 56 dugong sightings. While manual image analysis proved more reliable, AI detection achieved only 17.6% precision, highlighting the need for larger and more diverse training datasets. The study demonstrates the potential of combining affordable technologies, habitat data, and local ecological knowledge to improve dugong monitoring and guide conservation in areas where resources and population data are limited.

Cossa, D. et al. (2023), Marine Ecology Progress Series, Vol. 716: 123–136

Jones, B. et al. (2022), Ecology & Society, 2(10)

Published in Ecology & Society, this paper used tropical seagrass meadows in the Indo-Pacific as a model social-ecological system to investigate how sustainable development initiatives can result in unintended consequences with both positive and negative outcomes for the environment and society. The researchers analysed initiatives and their effects to show that sustainable development initiatives can produce unintended effects with major consequences that can undermine the initiative’s objectives. The paper emphasises the need for an a priori process that considers effects when planning interventions.

Plön, S. et al. (2019), PLoS ONE 14(9): e0219350

United Nations Environment Programme (2001)