The race to protect Barbados’ coral reef has reached a make-or-break moment, with 90 per cent of the island’s coral polyps either ill, destroyed or stressed.

According to head of the Regional Secretariat for the Inter-governmental Oceanographic Commission-UNESCO, Dr Lorna Inniss, should this course continue, the country’s underwater ecosystem could be left with less than five per cent viable coral reef by 2030.

“That means that by the time your grandchildren come along, there may not be any living coral reefs. That’s a serious thing. But it can be reversed. It can be if we do the right thing,” she added.