Overview
- Researchers from Hasanuddin University published the study on August 21, 2026 and applied the new Seagrass Ecological Quality Index (SEQI) to 21 meadows across Central and Eastern Indonesia.
- SEQI combines five easy‑to‑measure indicators—seagrass cover, species richness, water clarity, macroalgae cover, and epiphyte cover—to produce site scores that ranged from 0.39 to 0.88 in the sampled sites.
- The analysis revealed a spatial mosaic of conditions with clear hotspots such as Pasi‑Gusung, Parak, and Maharayya that warrant protection, coldspots like Sekotong and Lanjukang that need restoration, and outliers such as Bone Batang and Bonto Bahari that require localized responses.
- The authors say the mapped scores let managers choose specific actions—strict protection for high‑quality sites, active restoration for degraded areas, or buffer measures where surrounding pressures threaten refugia—which can sharpen blue‑carbon and fisheries outcomes for coastal communities.
- Indonesia holds more than 660,000 hectares of seagrass that support fisheries and store carbon, so the study offers a practical way to target limited monitoring and funding toward sites where protection or repair will have the greatest ecological and social return.