A study supported by the OML Center through a grant awarded to the Ateneo de Manila University is among the recipients of the Outstanding Scientific Paper award from the National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST). The NAST held a virtual awarding ceremony on Friday, July 10, 2020.

Dr. Severino G. Salmo III, project lead and main proponent of the Grant Project “A Comparative Analysis Among Disturbed, Restored and Natural Mangrove Stands in the Vulnerability and Adaptability Against Climate Change”, and Ms. Eunice Lois D. Gianan were recognized for their study “Post-disturbance stocks and rates of sequestration: Implications on “blue carbon” estimates in Philippine mangroves.” The study was published in the Philippine Science Letters in 2019. 

The study looked into the role of mangroves in climate resilience and showed that disturbances such as typhoons and conversion to aquaculture ponds contribute to changes their stocks and rates of carbon sequestration.

The study underscored that mangrove conservation should be complemented by more proactive restoration. It also suggested a more proactive approach on the rehabilitation of abandoned fish ponds to enhance carbon sequestration in Philippine mangroves.

Salmo is a full-time assistant professor at the Department of Environmental Science, School of Science and Engineering at the Ateneo de Manila University. Gianan is an MS graduate student and a university researcher at the Marine Science Institute of the University of the Philippines – Diliman.

The NAST is a recognition and advisory body on issues concerning science and technology. It gives the awards annually for papers published in Clarivate Analytics or Scopus-listed journals in the Philippines within five years preceding the award.

Read more about the study here.

For more information on this study, visit the OML Resilience Grant Page “A comparative analysis among disturbed, restored, and natural mangrove stands in the vulnerability and adaptability against climate change.”

For more information on climate change and its impacts on the Philippines, download The Philippine Climate Change Assessment reports. The reports synthesize scientific information from international and local literature in order to provide an assessment of climate change for the Philippines and guide strategic decision-making. They are divided into working groups on the physical science basis; impacts, adaptation and vulnerability; and mitigation of climate change.