Anthropocene

Caribbean coral crusaders

By Lisa Hendry

Nikita Shiel-Rolle fell in love with the ocean when she was 13. She grew up to be a conservation biologist, focusing on coral reefs.

Follow her efforts as she shares her passion and expertise with the next generation of young Bahamians, and inspires them to monitor and protect their local reefs.

It's an important task: the Caribbean has some of the most devastated reefs in the world. It has lost 80 per cent of its coral cover since the 1970s, and a report published by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) last year predicted that most Caribbean reefs could disappear within 20 years.

'I firmly believe the work that I’m doing will have an impact,' says Nikita. 'I think it’s going to have an impact on the lives of the students and an impact on the reef systems. It's not an easy journey, but there is hope.'

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