Category Archives: Overseas Territories
Can governance in the UK Overseas Territories give environmental protection?
Can governance in the UK Overseas Territories give environmental protection? Concerns over environmental protection in the UK Overseas Territories (UKOTs) have been voiced for a number of years, with funding, development and pollution as some of the main issues. The … Continue reading
Safeguarding the Jewels in the UK's Biodiversity Crown
The investment needed to conserve biodiversity in the UK’s Overseas Territories (UKOTs) is three to five times higher than that spent by the UK Government currently to protect the endemic species and threatened habitats in these unique ecosystems. That is … Continue reading
Is this 'Bird Armageddon'?
Since 1966 UK bird population has decline by 44 million which amounts to just under a million birds a year (over 45 years), which is dismal November news indeed. Yesterday the RSPB published their most extensive survey of the UK’s … Continue reading
Moving Forward with the NEWP – One Year On
Secretary of State at the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Caroline Spelman MP, announced yesterday that the Government would make £750,000 of extra funding available to create additional Nature Improvement Areas (NIAs). Those NIAs that were not successful … Continue reading
Overseas Biodiversity
Last week saw the joint meeting of the all party parliamentary groups on Biodiversity, UK’s Overseas Territories and Zoos and Aquariums, at which the BES Policy team was fortunate enough to attend. The meeting was chaired by Andrew Rosindell MP … Continue reading
A Celebration of the Chagos Marine Protected Area
Last night the BES’s Policy Officer attended an event to celebrate the founding of the world’s largest Marine Protected Area (MPA), around the Chagos Archipelago. The programme of talks and networking was organised by the Chagos Conservation Trust, a charitable … Continue reading
Socio-economic considerations of establishing a Marine Protected Area in the Chagos Archipelago
The British Ecological Society recently submitted a response to a Foreign and Commonwealth Office consultation document supporting the creation of a Marine Protected Area (MPA) in the Chagos Archipelago. In producing the response to the consultation, the BES recognised that … Continue reading
Conserving the Chagos
The BES Policy Team last night attended a meeting and reception organised by the Chagos Environment Network, highlighting the importance of designating the Chagos Archipelago (otherwise known as the British Indian Ocean Territory, or ‘BIOT’) as a highly protected marine … Continue reading
Tristan Albatross Faces Imminent Extinction
Tristan Albatross chicks are raised exclusively on Gough Island, a UK Overseas Territory. Sadly they are being predated by ‘killer mice’ at such an unprecedented rate the species faces imminent extinction unless urgent action is taken. Government funding to tackle … Continue reading
New Approach Needed to Conserving UK Biodiversity – EAC
The Environmental Audit Committee has today published its report into ‘Halting UK Biodiversity Loss’. The Committee call for a new approach to address dramatic declines in biodiversity across England and in the UK’s Overseas Territories (OTs). The Committee find that … Continue reading