Chagos

The next UK government promises to be an ocean champion

Posted by Willie — 20 April 2015 at 11:23am - Comments
All rights reserved. Credit: Enric Sala/ Nat Geo

Here’s a prediction: the next UK government will do great things for global marine protection.

At this stage in a general election campaign it’s sometimes hard to find something that politicians wearing differently coloured rosettes can agree on, but with an unprecedented bunch of manifesto commitments, there’s a growing certainty that the next UK government will be an ocean champion.

Celebrating island (wild) life

Posted by Willie — 22 May 2014 at 12:05am - Comments
All rights reserved. Credit: Greenpeace

Today is the International Day for Biological Diversity. That’s a bit of a mouthful, but put simply it’s a day officially set aside to celebrate the world’s wealth of wildlife. For 2014 the theme is Island Biodiversity.

UK creates world’s largest marine reserve

Posted by Willie — 1 April 2010 at 7:53pm - Comments

A green sea turtle © CC PiccoloNamek

Today is a good day for the oceans.

The UK has just created the world’s largest marine reserve, covering some quarter of a million square miles of ocean around the Chagos Archipelago.

Why Greenpeace supports a Marine Reserve in the Chagos

Posted by Willie — 2 March 2010 at 12:00pm - Comments

Greenpeace believes that there is an overwhelming case for giving full protection to the waters of the Chagos as a no-take Marine Reserve and has now formally responded to the UK government's consultation on the Chagos Islands Marine Protected Area.

But the UK Government consultation does not address everything that needs to be addressed in the Chagos Islands: The Chagossian people, who were removed from the islands prior to the creation of the Diego Garcia military base, are still fighting for justice. Early Greenpeace campaigner Rex Weyler tells that sorry tale in his blog here.

Help protect the Chagos and create the world's largest Marine Reserve

Posted by Willie — 2 February 2010 at 11:41am - Comments

An octopus adds its support to our Marine Reserves campaign

12 Feb update: consultaion extended until 5 March. Click this link to add your voice in support of the new Marine Reserve

The chances are you’ve never heard of the Chagos Islands, let alone ever been for a visit, but over the next few days we all have an opportunity to help protect the amazing life in the seas around them.

The Chagos archipelago is a group of 55 small islands in the Indian Ocean, that makes up Britain’s Indian Ocean Territory. The UK government is currently consulting on whether to establish a Marine Reserve in the waters around the Chagos – which, if created, would be the largest Marine Reserve in the world, covering around 210,000 square miles. Crucially that area includes half of the Indian Ocean’s pristine coral reefs, the world’s largest coral atoll, as well as charismatic critters like turtles, sharks, coconut crabs and seabirds. Not to mention well over 200 species of coral, and a thousand species of fish!

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