Mangrove World

Mangrove.World

Become a Sustainability Steward in the real world.

WATCH THE TRAILER

A deadly typhoon has devastated many islands in the Philippines and you are the only survivor… (just about!)
Restore the coastline with mangroves to protect your people and land. Become a champion steward by collecting, planting and trading mangrove seedlings but be careful where and when you do so.
Looking for action? Explore the mysterious mangrove forest and seek advice from your ancestors. Watch out for haunting Filipino myths and legends. You may find yourself in serious danger!

Video-games as a transformative medium to engage the public in sustainability

Welcome to my mangrove world! Let’s work together to protect a Virtual-2-Real Mangrove ecosystem. Mangrove forests protect people from ferocious storms, provide best conditions for fishing and contribute positively to lowering CO2 levels. Discover how our video-game works as a transformative medium to engage the public in sustainability, so that you can make a difference in the real world. What can you do to help? Just play!

What is a Mangrove?

Mangroves are trees or bushes that grow in clusters along seashores and riverbanks. They have thick tangled roots that are partly above ground. These roots help to keep waves from washing away dirt and sand of the coastline.

Why Mangroves?

Mangrove ecosystems are valuable and provide many ecosystem services such as effective carbon storage for climate mitigation. Studies show four to five times higher carbon sequestration of mangroves compared to terrestrial forest! Yet, globally we are losing between 0.2 to 0.7% annually..

Quote (NGO)

“I learned a lot from the KeepItHuman crew and in understanding how interactive music can be incorporated in the game design process. Sometimes, we as conservationists, take things as one itself but it takes creativity and innovativeness to merge two different industries and that is what we are doing in this project. Ricardo has been a great sport and understanding in the Filipino culture so it's a big plus!”

Camille Rivera, co-founder Oceanus Conservation

We gamify NGOs’ missions using a different route than others

Can video-games like Mangrove.World raise awareness on the importance of mangrove conservation? Can gamification of sustainable futures become a tool for action and change? Yes, all this is not only possible now but also highly desirable and innovative!
In 2022, two startups at the University of Manchester (Keep•It•Human Studios and Imago Software) and Phillipino NGO Oceanus Conservation joined forces to build a quick prototype for Mangrove.World in three months.

Phase 1

Create awareness about the importance of Mangrove Reforestation for preserving life and local livelihood and verify it.
The collection of data through questionnaires from play-testers around University Campus.
To construct a Digital Twin in the arts, connecting the video-game with a real-time data from specific mangrove reforestation projects in the Philippines. As a result, a team from Keep•It•Human travelled to the Manila to meet the NGO, visiting a number of mangrove projects in the islands.

Phase 2 (Philippines)

Helping planting of 400 seedlings of mangroves in La Union
Deploying bio-acoustic devices in mangrove forests to collect audio data at up to 384kHz
Visiting contrasting mangrove areas ranging from ‘health mangroves’ protected sanctuaries such as Bais, Negros Oriental Islands, to at-risk mangrove areas in Makati bay (south of Manila), at highly human-poluted coastlines but also in danger of adverse ecological impact of potential expansions of Ninoy Aquino International Airport

Phase 3

a) Incorporating game in a wider environmental video game platform (a project by KeepItHuman).
b) Providing an in-game financial tool for virtual-to-real conversion.

Keep It Human Studios

We are a Social Venture building game ecosystems for Digital Altruism. We add music and fun to storytelling, digital fundraising and new modes of engagement, to connect a new generation of people with the ownership of social challenges.

Oceanus Conservation, the Philippines

A science-based non-profit environmental organization focusing on the conservation and restoration of blue carbon habitats in the Philippines. 185 Community members trained, 4289 mangrove saplings planted, 2 sites with Smart Buoy deployed and 325 Young people engaged in Ocean campaign