An oil spill off Mauritius threatens protected ecosystems

IT SEEMED as if the worst of 2020 was over for Mauritius. The island state has done a better job than most other African countries in quelling covid-19. It was planning to restart the tourism industry that accounts for 9% of GDP and employs nearly a fifth of the workforce. Then on July 25th MV Wakashio, a Japanese-owned merchant ship, ran aground on a coral reef off the south-east coast. It leaked more than 1,000 tonnes of fuel oil before breaking apart on August 16th. This is far from the largest oil spill in southern African history; in 1991 a tanker released 260,000 tonnes off Angola. But rarely has a spill occurred so close to protected marine ecosystems. Mauritius, with the help of France and Japan, is scrambling to assess the damage.