Lecture: Wetlands as Climate Solutions

This lecture explores how scientific research and community action could converge around mangrove and wetland restoration, highlighting their critical role in strengthening climate resilience against rising sea levels in Southeast Asia. Pierre Taillardat, Assistant Professor and Principal Investigator of the Wetland Carbon Lab at the Asian School of Environment, NTU, shares insights into the role of mangroves as natural climate solutions, drawing on his research into carbon storage, greenhouse gas fluxes, and hydrological dynamics. He further highlights how conserving and restoring mangroves strengthens coastal resilience, sequesters carbon, and mitigates the impacts of sea level rise, while also addressing the ecological limits and challenges of scaling these solutions. Joining the conversation is Iwan Winarto, founder of Pengudang Mangrove Bintan, a grassroots initiative in Bintan (Riau Islands) that has successfully restored several mangrove areas across the island through community engagement and educational ecotourism. Drawing from his long-standing work with local and Singapore schools and resorts, he shares practical strategies for sustaining community-led restoration projects and cultivating environmental stewardship.

Tuesday Lecture

14 October 2025, 6:30pm – 8:30pm

The Hall, NTU CCA, Blk 6 Lock Road, #01-10 Gillman Barracks, Singapore 108934

Image Credit: Mangrove planting by Pengudang Mangrove School, June 2025, Bintan Indonesia. Photo by Angela Hoten.

The Climate Transformation: Sustainable Societies Lecture series returns for its second cycle for the 2025 Fall Semester. Each session features researchers from the Climate Transformation Programme, alongside contributors from other academic fields, as well as artists, architects and advocates. In this second iteration, the series is framed with policy relevance in mind, with respondents from various government agencies and other fields offering immediate commentary.

The Climate Transformation: Sustainable Societies Series is organised by members of the Climate Transformation Programme (CTP) Cross-Cutting Theme 1: Sustainable Societies research team, Senior Principal Investigator Professor Ute Meta Bauer, research fellow Joshua Gebert, research associate Ng Mei Jia and research assistant Angela Ricasio Hoten.

Sustainable Societies

Senior Principal Investigator, Professor Ute Meta Bauer (NTU ADM)

Principal Investigator, Associate Professor Laura Miotto (NTU ADM)

Principal Investigator, Professor Dr Thomas Schroepfer (SUTD)

This Lecture Series is supported by the Singapore Ministry of Education Academic Research Fund Tier 3 grant [MOE-MOET32022-0006] for the Climate Transformation Programme.

Speakers

Iwan Winarto runs the community space, Pengudang Mangrove School in Bintan, Indonesia and has started various ecotourism initiatives to support the Pengudang village including mangrove tours, restoration projects and homestays. The Pengudang Mangrove school focuses largely on educating locals and tourists on the importance of protecting mangrove forests that face local and existential threats and initiates mangrove restoration projects around Bintan Island.

Pierre Tailladart is an Assistant Professor at the Asian School of Environment and lead investigator of the Wetland Carbon Lab. His research focuses on wetlands, such as mangroves and peatlands, and evaluate the role these habitats play in modern biogeochemical budgets and potential ways these environments can be integrated into future sustainable development strategies. He obtained his PhD at the National University of Singapore and MA from the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), Canada.

Moderator

Joshua Gebert is a Research Fellow under the Climate Transformation Programme (CTP) at NTU, in the Sustainable Societies cluster. He holds a PhD from the National University of Singapore. His research examines the intersection of heritage politics and decolonization in Indonesia. Under the CTP, his research project focuses on local climate change mitigation practices along coastlines in the Riau Islands, Indonesia. Bringing together scientists, artists, and local communities, he is co-developing an online manuals on mangrove restoration and coral reef transplantation.

About the Climate Transformation: Sustainable Societies Lecture Series

The series returns for its second cycle in the Academic Year 2025-26. Each session features researchers from the Climate Transformation Programme, alongside contributors from other academic fields, as well as artists, architects and advocates. In this second iteration, the lecture series is framed with policy relevance in mind, with respondents from various government agencies, non-governmental organisations, and other relevant industries offering immediate commentary.