Cuba&amp;#8217;s isolation and economic stagnation has had one benefit: its coral reefs are in much better shape than other reefs in the Caribbean. Their relative health is allowing researchers to establish baselines&nbsp;that help shed light on declines in ocean health elsewhere.&nbsp;
But while Cuba has mostly escaped the tourism, pollution and overfishing that has wrecked other reefs, it cannot escape the global phenomenons of climate change and invasive species.&nbsp;
There are some things to celebrate, however. In 2010, researchers from the US and Cuba started collaborating to help marine conservation, after more than 50 years of academic separation.
&amp;#8212; Caroline
See grantee Lygia Navarro&amp;#8217;s reporting on Cuba&amp;#8217;s environment and reefs here. Image by Lygia Navarro. Cuba, 2010.
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