On the 24th of November Coral Cay Conservation (CCC) was pleased to assist the Chagos Conservation Trust (CCT) in the organisation of their high profile discussion entitled ‘Creating one of the World’s greatest conservation areas: the Chagos Protected Area’. The meeting took place on the 150th anniversary of the publication of Darwin’s On the Origin of Species at the Oversea’s House.  

Presentations were given by Dr Carl Gustaf Lundin, Head of the IUCN Marine Programme, Prof. Charles Sheppard of the University of Warwick, Alistair Gammell, of the Pew Environment Group and Eric Blencowe, Head of International Biodiversity, DEFRA rounded off a good evening.

Dr Lundin spoke of the unusual resilience of the Chagos reefs in terms of their ability to recover from bleaching events and argued that alongside this resilience, high levels of biodiversity and unique geomorphology, makes the Chagos an excellent candidate for conservation.  

“If the total area was to be gazetted as an Marine Protected Area (MPA) under the IUCN recommendation one, which is a complete No Take Zone the area protected would make the Chagos Archipelago as important as some of the world’s largest marine protected areas, such as Pheonix Islands Protected Area is Kiribati and Papahanaumokuakae Marine National Monument in the North Western Hawaiian Islands, USA.”

Professor Charles Sheppard went on to highlight that over half of the Indian Oceans healthy reefs are found in the Chagos alone. Having monitored the Chagos reef system before, during and after the global bleaching incident in 2005, Charles Sheppard is of the opinion that due to its high bill of health, reefs in the Chagos are far more resilient to global warming and are able to bounce back and recover. The reef systems in the Chagos are able to do so due to the lack of anthropogenic influences. “…because of it is mainly un-spoilt and healthy environment, the Chagos provides us with a scientific benchmark for how the world could be without pollution and other environmental degradation”. Influences such as pollution, over fishing, sedimentation etc degrade reef health and reduce their ability to recover from global incidents such as bleaching.  

If the Chagos Archipelago was designated as an MPA which still permits extractive use then it would increase the global total percentage of marine protected area coverage by 13%, but if it was designated as a fully no-take MPA it would double the area so protected and could prolong the survival of its coral reefs by approximately 30 years.
Find out more on the public consultation process to establish a Marine Protected Area in the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT).

CCC fully supports the environmental objectives of this campaign and on the 19th of November CCT, Dr Allen Vincatassin (Patron of the Diego Garcian Society) and CCC took part in a workshop at Crawley to speak to a Chagossian community about the global importance of coral reefs and to offer those who are interested in the opportunity to join the CCC Reef Conservation Scholarship Programme. Two scholarships places have been made available to any Chagossian wishing to learn how to scuba dive and learn about the importance and fragility of coral reefs as well as how and why we need to protect them.