Plastic carried downstream from rivers and coastal settlements accumulates in mangrove forests, where the same root systems that trap sediment also trap waste. Debris smothers seedlings before they establish, entangles and deforms roots, and blocks the light and gas exchange mangroves depend on. It can also alter soil chemistry and hydrology, changing conditions below ground as well as above.

Indonesia holds the largest and most diverse mangrove ecosystem on Earth — roughly 2.95 million hectares, more than 20% of the world’s remaining mangroves. These forests are among the most carbon-rich ecosystems on the planet. They shelter the juvenile fish and invertebrates that coastal fisheries depend on, absorb storm energy before it reaches shore, and build up wetland soil elevation as sea levels rise. While some areas remain relatively intact, mangroves in densely populated regions like Java and Bali have been severely degraded.

Mangroves not only protect communities from the impact of climate change, they play a vital ecological and economic role for coastal communities. Around 60% of Indonesia’s population lives in coastal areas and rely on mangrove ecosystems for food security and livelihoods, from fishing and sustainable firewood collection to ecotourism.

That is the question M-PROVE was built to answer. Cleanup programs remove significant volumes of plastic every year, but no large-scale experimental study has measured whether that removal translates into ecological recovery. M-PROVE tests this question directly. The project monitors the accumulation of plastic and tracks biodiversity, forest regeneration, and soil carbon across sites with different levels of plastic, as well as in a control site where plastic has been intensively removed. Results may vary by site, season, and species, and we will report what we find throughout this nearly 2-year long study.

Every organism sheds traces of DNA into its surroundings into water, sediment, and soil. Environmental DNA (eDNA) monitoring collects those samples and sequences them to identify which species are present without needing to see or catch anything. It picks up organisms that traditional surveys routinely miss which matters in mangroves where much of the life is small, cryptic, or below the waterline. On M-PROVE, Bionesia handles extraction in Bali, and NatureMetrics does the sequencing and biodiversity analysis. We pair eDNA with traditional biodiversity surveys so the two methods can corroborate each other.

Funding the research directly supports fieldwork, community training, and the analysis that turns raw field data into usable evidence, and because M-PROVE runs across multiple seasons, recurring support helps sustain long-term monitoring. Your support would thereby strengthen datasets to better understand recovery over multiple seasons. Organizations can also partner with us.

Are you interested in bringing this collaborative mangrove and plastic monitoring project to your region? We’re interested in working with companies, foundations, local community organizations, and institutions focused on ocean and river plastic, blue carbon, mangrove regeneration, and nature-based solutions. Use the link above to start a conversation.

The study looks at how plastic — and its removal — affects mangrove ecosystem health, regeneration, recovery, biodiversity, and soil carbon. It combines five methods across the same sites: traditional biodiversity surveys, eDNA sampling, plastic accumulation monitoring using a phone-based tool built for citizen science , forest inventory covering tree growth and seedling recovery, and soil carbon assessments. Running all five together is what makes it possible to connect plastic levels to actual ecosystem response, rather than measuring any one signal in isolation.

M-PROVE studies three representative mangrove sites across a gradient of plastic pollution — heavy, medium, and low — which is what makes it possible to see how the ecosystem responds at different levels of contamination. Within one of those sites, a “hyperclean” control site is intensively cleared of plastic, isolating the direct effect of active cleanup. None of the sites are neglected: Sungai Watch’s efforts to stop plastic pollution from entering the oceans protect and restore Indonesia’s rivers through barriers and community clean-ups continues throughout the region, and this study measures what that work actually accomplishes.

The data itself is the deliverable that unlocks real-world action. It’s designed to give local communities, governments, funders, and blue-carbon financing mechanisms the evidence they need to invest in cleanups, knowing it will make an impact. M-PROVE funds Sungai Watch’s on-the-ground cleanup work as part of the study. This project not only measures the impact of community clean-up efforts; it also trains, engages, and compensates Sungai Watch staff to monitor, clean up, and recycle plastic accumulation in mangroves.

Even a result showing no ecological recovery would be valuable. It would mean redirecting cleanup investment toward approaches that actually restore mangrove health. This could also highlight the need to extend studies to assess long-term ecological impact. Either outcome replaces a guess with an answer.

Adventure Scientists has designed and managed large-scale field data collection projects for conservation partners since 2011, activating trained volunteers and local communities to collect scientific data that’s otherwise too remote, costly, or large-scale to gather. Our Coral Reef Monitoring project — a similar multi-country, multi-partner model — has completed more than 2,300 reef censuses and trained 80+ volunteers across four countries in just one year.

BRIN, Indonesia’s National Research and Innovation Agency, coordinates the country’s research, innovation, and development infrastructure. As M-PROVE’s co-lead, BRIN ensures the project’s findings carry direct weight with local and national policymakers who set Indonesia’s mangrove and waste-management strategy, rather than sitting in an academic journal a ministry may never see.

BRIN’s role includes:

• Policy translation: BRIN researchers will publish evidence-based policy briefs that turn scientific findings into actionable recommendations for waste management, mangrove protection, and ecosystem recovery across Indonesia and the wider Coral Triangle region.
• Governance oversight: BRIN ensures the project complies with Indonesian research governance and data-access policies, while enabling appropriate visibility for funders and biodiversity-crediting initiatives.
• Institutional pathways: BRIN determines the appropriate channels for engaging government agencies and regional institutions.

Adventure Scientists is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit, so donations are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. You can give once or set up a recurring monthly gift — recurring support is especially valuable on a multi-year study like this one, where fieldwork runs across seasons through 2028.