Why Mauritius is losing its seashells

When I visited Mauritius as a child on family holidays I would see plenty of seashells on the beaches.

But on my return to the archipelago to cover stories about the effects of climate change, the stretches of soft sand along the Indian Ocean have seemed bereft.

The collection of hundreds of different seashells that my father amassed as a teenager here would be an impossible feat now.

This is not surprising for 14-year-old old climate change activist Anesh Mungur, who says he has hardly seen any seashells in his lifetime.

"I think it's really sad that the shells are disappearing.

"I feel that the island is really suffering from the consequences of climate change and more needs to be done to protect the island before it's too late."

Shells have always played an important role in Mauritian culture - the Monetaria annulus, commonly known as gold ring cowrie, is a gift of love or luck.

The Monetaria moneta also used to be very common in Mauritius - it is known at the money cowrie as thousands of years ago it was used as a form of currency in some parts of Africa.