Meet the marine biologist working to save Kenya’s coral reefs

Recycled glass bottles are used to make a structure to plant baby corals onto
Recycled glass bottles are used to make a structure to plant baby corals onto Copyright Rosalie Bailie @rosiesseas
By Hannah Brown
Share this articleComments
Share this articleClose Button

Explore Kenya’s coral reefs through the eyes of a reef restoration diver.

ADVERTISEMENT

Imagine spending your days scuba diving on one of Africa’s most beautiful coral reefs. Well, that’s the reality for Rosalie Bailie, a Marine Biologist based at Diani Beach in Kenya. Her mission: to restore the coral reef.

To achieve this mission, Rosalie and her team collect pieces of broken coral before they die and hang them in a coral nursery. Once the pieces of coral are nice and healthy, they are transferred back onto the reef using artificial reef structures.

The team also works with tourists to educate them on the importance of the reef and how to safely interact with it.

Rosalie works for REEFolution Foundation. It restores coral reefs by working with local communities in developing countries and helps them to develop long term, sustainable, community-based coral reef management.

Where is Diani Beach?

Diani Beach is a popular holiday resort in the south of Kenya, about 35 km from Mombasa.

The coral reef extension project here started in October 2020 and hopes to see some of its long-term goals achieved in the next 10 years.

Due to climate change and unsustainable ocean activities, the number and variety of fish and corals have plummeted since the 1980s.

You can support REEFolution Foundation’s vital conservation work at: https://www.reefolution.org

Watch the video above to learn more about Rosie’s work in Diani Beach.

Video editor • Hannah Brown

Share this articleComments

You might also like