The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge wrapped up their first full day in Belize with a discussion on marine conservation from leading Belizean experts.
The royal couple set up a roundtable discussion area on the pier at Hopkins, the small fishing village where earlier in the day they’d taken part in a Garifuna cultural festival.
Kensington Palace shared images from their marine conservation talks, captioning the photos: “Belize is home to the world’s second largest barrier reef, thanks to decades of work to protect this incredible marine environment.
“In 2017, offshore oil exploration was banned, resulting in the reef receiving UNESCO World Heritage Status.”
Conservation is a key focus for William, who last year launched The Earthshot Prize and continues to promote it on a global scale. Last week, before the royal couple departed for Belize, the Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge announced the Prize’s first trustees in a step to make the organisation fully independent of the Foundation by the end of the year.
The Royal Foundation announced that Christiana Figueres will be the Prize’s Chair; David Fein will be its Vice Chair; and ‘Tokunboh Ishamael will be a Trustee. All three have extensive backgrounds in climate change, conservation, and management.
William and Kate signed off social media Sunday evening with the message: “What a fantastic first full day here in Belize. We’ve already met so many incredible people and learnt so much about what makes this country so unique. Thank you to everyone we met today.”
Earlier in the day, the royal couple had visited a family-run cacao farm that produces world-famous Mayan chocolate; and took part in a Garifuna cultural festival where dancing, food sampling, and tree planting was on the itinerary.
Their visit to Belize continues through to Tuesday, and then moves to Jamaica and the Bahamas before wrapping up on Saturday. Royal Central will bring you all the latest news from their Caribbean royal tour.
