Protect this jewel in the Indian Ocean's crown
Frank Pope
Coral reefs, the colourful rainforests of the ocean and home to a quarter of fish in the sea, seem doomed. Yet in the remote heart of the Indian Ocean lies a tiny group of islands that chance and biology have conspired to preserve in pristine, primal condition. They are as biologically significant as the Galápagos Islands or the Great Barrier Reef, bathed in seawater thought to be purer than any on the planet. The Chagos Islands offer a glimmer of hope for an ocean choking from man's impact. Best of all, they are administered by Britain. We have the golden opportunity to protect them.
The environmental elixir of the islands - otherwise known as the British Indian Ocean Territories - is lack of humans. A controversial resettlement 40 years ago to make way for a military base has spared them the tightening catastrophe that threatens life in the oceans. Absence of entrenched economic interests makes them relatively easy to protect.
In one of his last acts as President, George W. Bush used the US Antiquities Act to set aside 195,000 square miles of the Pacific as marine monuments, winning surprised gratitude from conservationists. In 2006 he did the same with 140,000 square miles around the northwest Hawaiian islands. His turnaround is largely thanks to a new scientific consensus that marine protected areas have near-miraculous powers for restoring the health of the seas.
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Coral reefs, the colourful rainforests of the ocean and home to a quarter of fish in the sea, seem doomed. Yet in the remote heart of the Indian Ocean lies a tiny group of islands that chance and biology have conspired to preserve in pristine, primal condition. They are as biologically significant as the Galápagos Islands or the Great Barrier Reef, bathed in seawater thought to be purer than any on the planet. The Chagos Islands offer a glimmer of hope for an ocean choking from man's impact. Best of all, they are administered by Britain. We have the golden opportunity to protect them.
The environmental elixir of the islands - otherwise known as the British Indian Ocean Territories - is lack of humans. A controversial resettlement 40 years ago to make way for a military base has spared them the tightening catastrophe that threatens life in the oceans. Absence of entrenched economic interests makes them relatively easy to protect.
In one of his last acts as President, George W. Bush used the US Antiquities Act to set aside 195,000 square miles of the Pacific as marine monuments, winning surprised gratitude from conservationists. In 2006 he did the same with 140,000 square miles around the northwest Hawaiian islands. His turnaround is largely thanks to a new scientific consensus that marine protected areas have near-miraculous powers for restoring the health of the seas.
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