Publications

Amanda Hodgson, Christophe Cleguer (2026)

This document reports on the activities conducted under the IKI Seagrass Ecosystem Services project in support of Output I: Methodological tools for data collection and monitoring of seagrass ecosystem status and threats developed or enhanced and applied to conservation actions in all five project sites.

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.

Project Seagrass (2026).

This article highlights new research revealing the critical role of seagrass meadows in supporting the livelihoods and food security of millions of people living in poverty across the Indo-Pacific. The study estimates that at least 18 million people living in poverty fish in seagrass meadows, including around 6.5 million who may depend entirely on these habitats for subsistence and fishing-related income. It also finds that households experiencing extreme poverty are more likely to depend exclusively on seagrass fisheries and that seagrass-dependent households earn around 23% less than other fishers. The findings highlight the importance of integrating seagrass conservation into poverty alleviation, food security, sustainable fisheries and development strategies, particularly in vulnerable coastal communities.

Cleguer, C. et al. (2024), Pacific Conservation Biology 30, PC23036

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.

Derville, S. et al. (2022), Scientific Reports, 12(552)

Andréfouët, S. et al., (2021), Marine Pollution Bulletin, 173

McKenzie, L. et al. (2021), Marine Pollution Bulletin, 167

Cleguer et al. (2020), Endangered Species Research, 43, 167–181.

Cleguer, C. (2015) PhD dissertation

James Cook University (JCU)

United Nations Environment Programme (2001)