Britain approves Chagos Islands reserve, angers Mauritius

Yahoo News 1 Apr 10;

LONDON (AFP) – Britain gave the green light Thursday for the creation of the world's biggest marine reserve around the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean, provoking fury from Mauritius which claims the archipelago.

The reserve will protect an area which experts say compares with Australia's Great Barrier Reef for its marine life, including coral reefs, yellow fin tuna, turtles and coconut crabs.

It will include a "no-take" marine reserve where commercial fishing is to be banned, the Foreign Office said.

"The MPA (Marine Protected Area) will cover some quarter of a million square miles (400,000 square kilometres) and its establishment will double the global coverage of the world's oceans under protection," said Foreign Secretary David Miliband.

"Its creation is a major step forward for protecting the oceans."

But Mauritius -- where Chagossians were sent after being taken off the islands to allow construction of a military base -- lashed out at the decision.

"Perfidious Albion is dishonest," Mauritian Foreign Minister Arvind Boolell told AFP. "I am very angry.

"As recently as last week, I asked the British government through its high commissioner in Mauritius John Murton to present the results of the British government's consultations to the bilateral committee on Chagos," he said.

"The British government refused," he added.

The Chagos Islands were ceded to Britain in 1814 and the archipelago was evacuated four decades ago.

Its main island, Diego Garcia, is now populated by an estimated 1,700 US military personnel, 1,500 civilian contractors and around 50 British personnel.

The base played a key role in the 1991 military operation against Iraq.

Around 2,000 Chagossians were moved to Mauritius, which still claims the 55 islands.

Mauritius formed part of the same administrative area as the Chagos Islands when it was under British rule.

Most of the refugees are still campaigning to go back, although the British government has paid compensation.

Last month, Olivier Bancoult, of the Chagos Refugees Group, accused Britain of "trying to create a protected area to prevent Chagossians from returning to their native islands".

Miliband said in his statement that the creation of the reserve "will not change the UK's commitment to cede the territory to Mauritius when it is no longer needed for defence purposes".

He said the decision on the marine reserve was taken following consultation and pledged to work with "all interested stakeholders" in making it work.

The announcement was welcomed by environmental campaigners Greenpeace, who said it marked an "end to the unfair commercial exploitation of Chagossian seas".

"These coral seas are a biodiversity hotspot in the Indian Ocean and unquestionably worthy of protection from destructive activities like fishing," Greenpeace campaigner Willie Mackenzie said.

"The creation of this marine reserve is a first step towards securing a better and sustainable future for the Chagos Islands.

"But this future must include securing justice for the Chagossian people and the closure and removal of the Diego Garcia military base."

UK okays world's biggest sea reserve, angers islanders
Adrian Croft, Reuters 1 Apr 10;

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain created the world's biggest marine reserve in its Indian Ocean territory on Thursday, pleasing environmentalists but angering exiled Chagos Islanders who say it creates an obstacle to them returning home.

Foreign Secretary David Miliband ordered the creation of a marine reserve, where commercial fishing is banned, in the British Indian Ocean Territory, made up of 55 tiny islands, including Diego Garcia, which houses a U.S. air base.

Some 2,000 Chagos Islanders were forcibly removed from the archipelago in the 1960s and '70s to make way for the American base and have waged a long legal battle for the right to return.

Representatives of the Chagos Islanders, who have now taken their case to the European Court of Human Rights, argue that the creation of the reserve will stop them returning home because it bars fishing, their main livelihood.

The new "marine protected area" will cover a quarter of a million square miles -- an area larger than California -- and doubles the area of the world's oceans under protection.

"Its creation is a major step forward for protecting the oceans," Miliband said in a statement.

The decision by the British government comes weeks before an election that opposition Conservatives are favorites to win.

The U.S.-based Pew Environment Group, one of a number of conservation groups that campaigned for the creation of the marine reserve, called Miliband's decision "a historic victory for global ocean conservation".

It said the Chagos Islands rivaled the Galapagos Islands and the Great Barrier Reef in ecological diversity and the area was important for research on climate change, ocean acidification, the resilience of coral reefs and sea level rise.

SAFE HAVEN FOR WILDLIFE

It said the islands provided a safe haven for dwindling populations of sea turtles and more than 175,000 pairs of breeding sea birds. The sparklingly clean waters around the islands are home to 220 species of corals and more than 1,000 species of reef fish, it said.

But islanders and their supporters said the move could be used to prevent them returning home.

"They will say that if you go there, you are not allowed to fish. How are you going to feed yourself? How are you going to get your livelihood?," Roch Evenor, an islander who chairs the UK Chagos Support Association, told Channel 4 News.

Marcus Booth, vice-chair of the association, which supports islanders' right to return home, accused the government of disregarding the islanders' rights in a rushed move to secure an environmental legacy before the election.

Diego Garcia became an important base for the United States during the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts, acting as a refueling site for long-range bombers.

In 2008, Britain acknowledged that two U.S. planes carrying terrorism suspects had refueled there six years earlier.

Several British courts ruled that evicted islanders and their descendants had a right to return home but Britain's highest court overturned those rulings in 2008.

The islanders and their descendants are now believed to number about 5,000. Around a fifth are looking to resettle on the islands, which have belonged to Britain since 1814.

(Editing by Louise Ireland)

UK sets up Chagos marine reserve
Paul Rincon, BBC News 1 Apr 10;

The UK government has created the world's largest marine reserve around the Chagos Islands.

The reserve would cover a 545,000-sq-km area around the Indian Ocean archipelago, regarded as one of the world's richest marine ecosystems.

This will include an area where commercial fishing will be banned.

But islanders, who were evicted to make way for the US air base on the island of Diego Garcia, say a reserve would effectively ban them from returning.

UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband said establishing the reserve would "double the global coverage of the world's oceans under protection".

He commented: "Its creation is a major step forward for protecting the oceans, not just around BIOT [British Indian Ocean Territory] itself, but also throughout the world.

"This measure is a further demonstration of how the UK takes its international environmental responsibilities seriously."

Conservationists say the combination of tropical islands, unspoiled coral reefs and adjacent oceanic abyss makes the area a biodiversity hotspot of global importance.

Rich ecosystem

The archipelago, which has been compared to to the Galapagos Islands and to Australia's Great Barrier Reef, hosts the world's biggest living coral structure - the Great Chagos Bank. This is home to more than 220 coral species - almost half the recorded species of the entire Indian Ocean, and more than 1,000 species of reef fish.

William Marsden, chairman of the Chagos Conservation Trust, commented: "Today's decision by the British government is inspirational. It will protect a treasure trove of tropical, marine wildlife for posterity and create a safe haven for breeding fish stocks for the benefit of people in the region."

Mauritius has asserted a claim to sovereignty over the islands; and the UK has agreed to cede the territory when it is no longer required for defence purposes.

But in a letter to the Sunday Times newspaper earlier this year, Mauritius' High Commissioner Abhimanu Kundasamy said: "There can be no legitimacy to the [marine protected area] project without the issue of sovereignty and resettlement being addressed to the satisfaction of the government of Mauritius."

The former residents of the islands, who were evicted from the British overseas territory between 1967 and 1971 to make way for the US Air Force base on the largest island, Diego Garcia, have fought a long-running battle in the UK courts for the right to return.

Of the islands, only Diego Garcia, which has played a key role in the US-led operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, is currently inhabited.

Resettlement fight

Some Chagossians claim the marine protected area (MPA) would "severely jeopardise" any resettlement, because it would prevent them from fishing - their main livelihood.

The islanders' legal saga is not over; Chagossians are now pursuing their cause through European courts.

In a statement on its website, The UK Chagos Support Association said the Foreign Secretary's announcement left several key questions unanswered and called on Mr Miliband to involve Chagossians in the marine protection project.

The association said the announcement did not make clear whether zones could be established within the MPA in which "limited, sustainable fishing could take place".

The statement also criticised the timing of the decision: "It is... bitterly disappointing that the government has felt it appropriate to make its announcement now, whilst parliament is [in] recess."

In his statement, Mr Miliband pointed out that the decision had been taken following a consultation (in which 90% of those who responded supported greater marine protection). He also said the Foreign Office intended "to continue to work closely with all interested stakeholders".

He added that the decision over the protection zone "is, of course, without prejudice to the outcome of the current, pending proceedings before the European Court of Human Rights".

'Conservation legacy'

Some Chagossian representatives back the reserve. Allen Vincatassin, from the UK-based Diego Garcian Society, told BBC News: "I am personally delighted that the Foreign Secretary has made the brave decision to protect the (BIOT)."

Mr Vincatassin told me he regarded the issue of the MPA as separate from the question of the right to return: "If a resettlement occurs in future on the outer islands, the marine protected area can be adjusted. These are two separate issues and I think there has been a deep misunderstanding."

He called the exile of the Chagossians "a great injustice", but added: "We don't want another state to come and exploit the area, do massive construction of hotels and bring in commercial fishing. Then the area will be finished."

Conservationists said the 545,000-sq-km (210,000-sq-mile) protection zone - an area twice the size of the UK - would prohibit activities such as industrial fishing and deep-sea mining.

Alistair Gammell, from the Pew Environment Group, said he was "thrilled" with the decision, adding that the oceans "desperately need better protection".

He commented: "In 2010, the International Year of Biodiversity, the UK has secured a conservation legacy which is unrivalled in scale and significance, demonstrating to the world that it is a leader in conserving the world's marine resources for the benefit of future generations."

The Foreign Office said it had been advised that the BIOT was crucial for repopulating coral systems along the East Coast of Africa and hence to the recovery in the marine food supply in sub-Saharan Africa.

The conditions of the MPA are expected to be enforced by the territory's patrol vessel.