Indira’s story: On the frontlines of reef survival in the Caribbean

(Image: Indira Brooks hiking in the center of Roatan)

Two sides of the island

Many people aren’t aware that Roatán is part of Honduras because it has been heavily marketed as a stand-alone tourist destination. It feels very different from the mainland. For many visitors and even mainland Hondurans, Roatán is just another tropical island in the Caribbean, with beautiful coral reefs, beaches, and a party atmosphere. But for me, Roatán is home. It's where I return to when I’m studying on the mainland, where my family and friends live, and where I’ve grown up. It’s more than just a vacation hub; it's everything to me.

I see home as a place of both good and bad. Despite the bad, I still love it because that’s the relationship you have with the place you were raised, right? Visitors often see only the good – scuba diving, beaches, and incredible views – and fall in love with the "paradise." But when you're from here, you see all sides, and that shapes who you are. Tourists may miss our significant social and environmental problems, which are not in plain sight.

(Image: Heavy tourism shows only the “good” side of the island)

Because it's such a tourism-heavy place, people might assume we all live in this curated, luxurious environment. We have so much to offer as an island, but we also have many challenges to overcome, many of which are hidden beneath the surface. When you're from here or have spent a lot of time connecting with the community, you feel a sense of responsibility to make a difference. I've never felt as close to my home as I do now, after studying on the mainland and coming back home, even amidst all these issues. I’ve never felt more Honduran, and I’ve never wanted to help more.

A path of contribution

But for me, I’m focused on the environmental challenges we’re up against. While we face numerous societal issues, our natural resource challenges are equally significant and closely linked. Despite efforts from various local and international NGOs, there's still much work to be done. Let me tell you about at least what I consider our top three issues: waste management and water sanitation, climate change adaptation, reef protection and unsustainable tourism.

As an island with limited space, the increasing amount of waste due to population growth and tourism creates a complex situation. The municipality and authorities are actively working for effective waste disposal, including collection, separation, and strategic management. But there’s so much improper waste management today, which often results in waste ending up in, you guessed it, the ocean.

(Image: Finding waste on a scuba dive with RMP)

Then there’s coral bleaching and stony coral tissue loss disease. At the beginning of 2024, we experienced our fourth bleaching event, affecting key ecological sites within the Caribbean, including our Marine Park. While recovery from coral bleaching is possible, it’s a slow process requiring significant time and resources, which we lack. Then during the global pandemic timeframe, we were hit by the coral disease, which took the Caribbean by storm, wiping out colonies in mass. Many locals who don’t dive are unaware of the reef’s issues or how bad it is right now, making it difficult for them to connect and care.

And of course, unsustainable tourism is also a pressing issue that’s impossible to ignore. Unchecked development, deforestation, and improper land management pose severe threats and are happening due to the rise of tourism on the island. Again, with limited space and resources, it's crucial to manage these effectively and protect what we have for future generations. But that’s often hard to do when cruise ship after cruise ship is docking on our shores, at times with 5,000+ passengers per boat storming the beaches. For example, the Port of Roatan takes three cruise ships at a time. That means more than 1.2 million are coming through this port in a given year!

For me, creating awareness is at the heart of it all. We need to educate the people of Honduras and visitors about all of this, and what they can do to help. It's about making sure these topics are discussed and understood by everyone. If we want to see a real difference, we need people to care and see how this impacts them.

(Image: A completely devastated coral site)

Everyday impacts

While we are dealing with these issues daily, we are also witnessing significant impacts of climate change on top of it all. And one of the most noticeable changes is in the rainy season patterns. Recently, we have experienced extended dry spells during times when it used to rain consistently. This is downright alarming.

Our ancestors often talk about how, in their youth, there was an abundance of fish and various animals close to the shore. Deforestation has made access to running water more difficult. You can't expect to cut down trees and still have ample water supply; nature doesn’t work that way. This leads to environmental degradation and further complicates our living conditions, leading to more extreme weather, habitat destruction, and biodiversity loss. The cycle continues.

(Image: Searching for wildlife and observing underdeveloped regions of the island)

To see change from the community level, it all starts with leading by example. If the new generation sees their parents discarding trash incorrectly, they will likely do the same. We need to start changing these behaviours early and set a positive example for future generations so that perhaps we can reverse some of the damage done.

A voice in the community

Here, many key conservation and restoration decisions and implementations come from the central government or higher authorities. From my seat at RMP, the team and I address issues that may not be immediately visible. It takes time, hard work, and often laying the foundation before you can see the impacts of what we do. Through it all, my goal is to be a voice for the communities I represent at every opportunity that I get.

This year, I began overseeing community development and education while also managing marketing and communication for RMP. My main role involves disseminating information about our work and the challenges facing marine ecosystems on the island. Because we are not a research institute and have limited staff, the data we have might not always be ready for immediate dissemination. So I try to ensure that all available information is distributed to relevant parties and stakeholders to raise awareness about ongoing issues.

(Image: Coral restoration work happening via RMP)

It's crucial that no one can claim ignorance of these issues, which is why I’m ensuring that everyone has key information about each one. Recently at RMP, there has been a greater emphasis on community engagement when it comes to conservation efforts. It's become so clear to us that to sustainably manage natural resources, we must balance the science and community needs. Effective conservation requires bridging the gap between science, community, and conservation efforts. We have found, when we aren’t able to bridge this gap, our efforts are more likely to fail. We need total buy-in across all levels for this to work now and in the long run.

Good news

One of our most recent and promising initiatives is the Community Patrols initiative around our protected areas. I am extremely excited and confident in its success. This program aims to educate and include the locals in dealing with our ocean challenges by involving locals in reporting incidents that take place around the shorelines and out at sea. By activating community members, we hope to create a network of individuals who can report issues, which in turn helps our patrols by reducing the need for constant onsite presence.

(Image: RMP puts heavy emphasis on patrolling the protected zones around the island)

This initiative designates specific people within the community to actively relay information to us. If an incident occurs, we can respond more efficiently and directly to the location. Additionally, this initiative empowers community leaders, giving them a voice and a role in ocean conservation that they didn’t have before! Since we don't have the resources to be everywhere at once, it's essential for community members to feel a sense of ownership and responsibility for protecting these resources.

Many people believe that the reef and the sea are there for everyone to use, but it's crucial to understand that it's not just for use; it's for everyone to protect. Instilling this message in our community is vital. We all have a responsibility to safeguard our natural resources, and this sense of duty must be deeply ingrained in all of us.

(Image: The Roatan Marine Park team)

People and planet

I wasn't always conscious of the importance of our environment until I started working at RMP. I spent more than 20 years unaware of the climate crisis and our planet's issues. This realization reinforces my belief that once you're aware, you have a responsibility to act. Before RMP, I worked at a university on the mainland as a Corporate Social Responsibility Coordinator, focusing on at-risk communities. My parents were community leaders, and I often helped behind the scenes during events when I was younger. I used to think, "When I grow up, I'm never going to do this." I wanted to go into the private sector, far from community work.

(Image: RMP works with local communities to create alternative livelihoods to stop over fish and over tourism impacting the reefs. This is the founder of “Island Honey,” once fisherman now beekeeper.)

In college, I majored in communication with a focus on corporate social responsibility, thinking it was a way to give back while staying in the private sector. After some years, I wanted to return to Roatán, but opportunities were limited there. It was clear that wherever I ended up working, I wanted to make a difference.

When I found a vacancy at the Roatan Marine Park, I took it without fully understanding its importance. It wasn't until I started working there that I realized how crucial this work is. Now, my sister and I joke about our career paths; she works in the private sector, and I’m here, protecting the reef. It's funny how things turned out, but I can't believe I ended up in community work after vowing I never would! I guess it’s been in me since the beginning, something that I can’t fight!

Hope and collaboration

With acts of service ingrained in me at such a young age, I’m prone to thinking that we can be doing even more in our work. Many laws exist but aren't enforced, making them ineffective. If we don't address these issues now, the future here looks bleak. I'm genuinely afraid for the next generation if we don't take even more action than what we’re doing today.

(Image: Indira and her colleague Becky Hamilton, working together in local communities)

But what does more action look like? We need all hands on deck, not just some. We'll never be able to face the effects of these challenges without everyone’s involvement—from the international community to local governments and the private sector. No matter your skills, experiences, or what you can offer. Many community members are willing to help and become more conscious of their impact if they are taught how. Often, it's not that people don't want to change; they simply don't know how or lack the means to do so. That’s why education is so important.

Our educational work is possible thanks to RMP’s higher management recognizing its importance. We are also fortunate to have Becky Hamilton, a native islander, as our Community Development Coordinator. Her weekly field presence serves as both our voice in the community and our ears, bringing attention to issues that might otherwise go unnoticed.

My message is not to lose hope in people. Individuals are at the heart of solving the problems we face. We each have incredible power, and in many cases, this is a kind of power that the individual is unaware of. We can be the change we need to see, and we can accomplish these goals by believing in the potential within ourselves and our communities.

As told to Andi Cross in July 2024.

About the Ocean Breakthroughs

Resulting from the joint efforts of the Ocean & Coastal Zones community and building on the Ocean for Climate Declaration, the Ocean Breakthroughs have identified five turning points to reach by 2030 to achieve a healthy and productive ocean in 2050. These five turning points are focused on the most crucial ocean sectors: marine conservation, ocean renewable energy, shipping, aquatic food, and coastal tourism. Accelerated action and investments in each will help unlock the potential of the ocean as a source of solutions to the pressing challenges posed by climate change and biodiversity loss.

The scientific evidence is clear: as a major climate regulator and the largest living space on Earth, the ocean is integral to delivering the goals of the Paris Agreement and the Global Biodiversity Framework. The Ocean Breakthroughs are science-based targets designed to boost mitigation and adaptation efforts, for the benefit of People and Nature. They will contribute to delivering on the global campaigns led by the Climate High-Level Champions, namely the Race to Resilience and Race to Zero, and their respective action agendas: the Sharm-El-Sheikh Adaptation Agenda and the 2030 Breakthroughs.

About the Expedition

The women-led global expedition, Edges of Earth, has partnered with the Climate High-Level Champions to bring to life the Ocean Breakthroughs initiative by sharing personal accounts and climate action stories from remote coastal communities.