Teen Inspires HOPE for Our Oceans' Future

A schoolgirl and aspiring marine scientist is creating a space and community for young changemakers to share their passion for ocean conservation and to help accelerate change.

Young and inspiring changemaker and ocean enthusiast Tahirah Naicker (16) has established an ocean conservation organisation to empower communities to become citizen scientists.

A Grade 11 learner at UCT Online High School, Tahirah lives in Blythedale on KZN's North Coast.

Tahirah loves exploring the ocean environment via beach trails and diving.

"I fell in love with our uThukela Banks Marine Protected Area (MPA), my home, and was fascinated watching whales and the humpback whale migration.

"My interest in marine conservation grew from a deep passion and appreciation of our ocean and how young people can become stewards of their environment and make a difference by contributing to local conservation efforts," she says.

Tahirah volunteered at environmental organisations along the North Coast, where she learnt how vital and impactful community action is, and the need for young changemakers to be empowered and included in these spaces.

As a passionate scout, she entered the 2023 National Champions for Nature Challenge, which encourages young scouts to get involved in community service and create local conservation projects aligned with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. 

As a result, she founded the Help Oceans Protect Earth (HOPE) project in November.

HOPE is an ocean conservation project dedicated to restoring our oceans and creating a network and community of young changemakers and citizen scientists, who are people in the community who collect data to contribute to and inform research and collaborate with scientists. Citizen scientists are vital in providing an understanding of their environment and the threats it faces.

"I wanted to create a space and platform for conservationists to connect and accelerate change together," says Tahirah.

"I quickly realised our marine protected area is under threat from pollution - from plastic to illegal fishing - and learnt that we need real-time data to monitor and track our MPA's health. It became clear that together, through collaboration with local coastal communities and decision- makers, we can restore our oceans and protect our MPA," she adds.

HOPE aims to empower communities to become citizen scientists and contribute to scientific research through the eOceans app, which was founded by Dr Christine Ward-Paige.

"She is an incredible marine scientist, inventor, female entrepreneur and my role model. I aspire to be like her," says Tahirah.

The app includes real-time maps, analysis and dissemination tools, which make it easy to collaborate and maximise impact to monitor and track the fast-changing ocean.

"Every observation tells the story of that place and time. By stitching all observations together, eOceans helps fill important data, perspective and knowledge gaps timeously.

"If you can observe it, you can track it - whether it's an oil spill or the mitigation of invasive species."

As a result of eOceans sponsoring the uThukela Banks Community Project on the app, HOPE can now log observations of the humpback whale migration, and the presence of oil tankers and cargo ships simultaneously, says Tahirah.

"Humpback whales are my favourite marine animals. Experiencing them and their calves breaching and swimming freely fills me with wonder and a need to restore our oceans for future generations."

The organisation aims to track marine ecosystem health, biodiversity and threats, including pollution and overfishing within the MPA.

"We also aim to crowdsource data and highlight and celebrate the MPA and its vital role in our ecosystems, economy and community. The MPA is a habitat, nursery, migratory, mating and feeding ground for a diverse array of rays, sharks, fish, whales, dolphins and corals, among other marine species. It is also a sanctuary for overexploited species, such as turtles, seabream, hammerhead sharks and garrick."

HOPE also leads grassroots conservation projects, such as water quality testing surveys, in collaboration with WaterCAN; beach clean-ups and workshops with scouts and expert speakers.

"We want to create open dialogue and inspire hope for the future of our oceans among the youth."

Make It Planet-Positive

Tahirah, who lives by the motto 'every action matters, make it planet-positive', is also working on a recycling and sustainable agriculture project - a raised vegetable garden built with eco-bricks.

She encourages the youth to become more environmentally conscious, even if they start with small steps.

"Be curious, ask questions about problems facing your community, learn how you can be part of the solution, or create a solution! Every action matters. Get involved in your local community's conservation projects, and learn from, connect and collaborate with others.

"Pursue your passion and contribute your unique skills and insights to the movement, whether you're a storyteller, photographer or artist, you can make a difference."

Do Your Bit

Our oceans need the youth, says Tahirah. "Start your journey as a changemaker today because every action counts towards building a more sustainable and equitable future for people and the planet. Together we can make waves and inspire hope for the future of our oceans." Download the eOceans app and become a citizen scientist by joining the uThukela Banks Community Project. "People can also contribute to local and global projects, such as the 'We Love the Indian Ocean Project'," says Tahirah.