The Nature Conservancy’s (TNC) preserve on St. Croix, called Estate Little Princess, is home to the Virgin Islands Coral Innovation Hub, with a state-of-the-art coral laboratory and land-based nursery (opening in Spring 2021) according to the TNC. The Nature Conservancy was gifted the Estate in 1991 to be used in perpetuity for the furtherance of conservation, cultural and educational activities. The Estate has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places and will serve as an incubator for innovative approaches to coral conservation and disseminate today’s coral science and technology. To learn more about the TNC’s conservation and environmental research work in St Croix, explore these articles and websites:
- Fact sheet: From fragile reefs to endangered sea turtles this Caribbean paradise needs protecting
- About their work on the US Virgin Islands on TNC’s website
- About the Estate Little Prince in St. Croix
- View photos of the state-of-the-art coral propagation facility and research laboratory on Facebook
- Article about aerial remote sensing technologies used to develop first-ever high-resolution maps of coral reefs and other marine habitats throughout the Caribbean basin
- Video below was recorded during a TNC expedition, when their coral science team witnessed spawning elkhorn corals that TNC had outplanted at Green Cay in St. Croix in 2012. This indicated that the outplants had grown successfully and were now reproducing naturally on their own. Read more about the work here.
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Photo credit: The Nature Conservatory