The Pew Environment Group has praised the UK for taking one further step towards designating the world’s largest marine reserve.
The proposed marine reserve would protect a group of 55 islands located in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Known as the Chagos Archipelago, the islands and their surrounding waters cover 210,000 square miles (544,000 square kilometers), an area larger than France. With some of the cleanest seas in the world, the islands are home to one of the most ecologically healthy coral reef systems on the planet.
The Chagos Archipelago and its surrounding waters comprise the British Indian Ocean Territory, an overseas territory of the UK Following a three-month public consultation, the UK government is now considering the designation of a Chagos Protected Area, which would safeguard the area’s rich diversity of marine life by prohibiting extractive activities, such as fishing. More than 275,000 people from around the world have signed petitions supporting this designation. A final decision is expected sometime this spring.
“If designated, the Chagos Protected Area would establish a conservation legacy almost unrivalled in scale and significance anywhere in the world's oceans,” said Joshua S. Reichert, Managing Director of the Pew Environment Group, which is a member of the Chagos Environment Network (CEN). The CEN is a group of leading conservation and scientific organisations seeking to protect the biodiversity of the Chagos Islands and their surrounding waters.
If the marine protection proposal is accepted, the Chagos Islands would provide an important global reference site for research in crucial areas such as ocean acidification, coral reef resilience, sea level rise, fish stock decline and climate change.
