A former winner of a national young environmental reporting award has gone on to come second in an international journalism competition.

Zoë Mir won the 11 to 14 category in the local Young Reporters for the Environment contest and her article was entered into the global competition along with other local category winners this year.

Her winning entry titled Fighting Biodiversity Loss with Micro Forests came second in the International Young Reporters for the Environment Journalism Competition.

Zoë’s article provided personal insights into the extensive biodiversity loss within Bermuda’s natural ecosystem and introduced “micro forests” as a solution to tackle these issues.

She said: “Journalism is a really powerful tool, it enables you to share things that you have learnt with the wider community to raise awareness for topics.

“It is something that you can apply to lots of different subjects in your life, anything you want to raise awareness about. It has made me a more conscious person of the environment and our impact on it and allowed me to plan for the future.”

The Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute, which runs the local competition, said the international selection was made by a global committee.

A spokeswoman for BUEI said: “By sharing her personal story of discovery and restoration, Zoë provides readers with a compelling tale of environmental advocacy that inspires other young people to join the biodiversity campaign.

“Her written piece continues to highlight Bermuda's environmental stories on the world stage and serves as an exemplary follow-up to her success in last year’s competition, in which her 2023 article Plastic Pollution on Nonsuch Island, the Home of the Cahows, also won second place at the global level.”

The Young Reporters for the Environment programme gives young people aged 11 to 25 a platform to research environmental issues and promote solutions through investigative reporting, photography and video journalism.

This year, the international competition received 248 submissions from 46 countries, marking the highest level of global participation to date.

The local competition also received a high number of submissions for the three media categories, with entries coming in from seven schools across all age brackets.

Four of the Bermuda’s entries this year were shortlisted in the international competition in the Article and Photography categories.

The spokeswoman added: “With the incredible success of this and last year’s competitions, BUEI is extremely hopeful to see more young people becoming interested in environmental journalism.

“We also look forward to Zoë continuing to serve as an environmental advocate and representative of our island on a worldwide scale.”

To view Zoë’s winning article and all national winners for 2024, visit www.BUEI.org