Chagos Archipelago: Britain designates world's largest marine reserve

In a historic move that one-ups the United States, Britain has designated the Chagos Archipelago as a marine reserve, making it the largest such marine protected area in the world. At 210,000 square miles, the new reserve surpasses the U.S.'s Papahanaumokuakea National Marine Monument in the Northern Hawaiian Islands by 70,000 square miles.

"In 2010, the International Year of Biodiversity, the UK has secured a conservation legacy which is unrivaled 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," said Alistair Gammell of the Pew Environment Group.

The archipelago is home to a wide variety coral and fish species, numbering in the many hundreds, along with substantial sea turtle and sea bird breeding areas. The archipelago - which contains the world's largest coral atoll, the Great Chagos Bank - is positioned right in the middle of the Indian Ocean, making it a sort of oceanic oasis to support many species while also developing endemic species because of its isolation.


In fact, when you look its position in the Indian Ocean and the size of the marine reserve, one can see how small the world's largest marine protected area actually is in relationship to the size of the Indian Ocean and, by extension, the entire ocean area on the planet. That's the only downside. The British government is to be applauded for their efforts, but more needs to be done - more critical marine areas need to be identified and protected across the globe.

Time and time again, marine protected areas have proven themselves to have a positive effect on marine ecosystems, including increased fish populations, even beyond the borders of the actual reserve. Bad things can spread throughout the oceans - but so can good things.

Scientists Confer: signs of progress in ocean conservation

The annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science recently concluded in Chicago and one of the results of the meeting was a recognition of progress in several areas of ocean conservation, particularly regarding fishery management in developing areas and coral reef health in protected or managed areas.

Several areas were cited for improved sealife populations due to effective fisheries management including Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, and Vanuatu. These regions were able to develop management programs that involved local communities in determining and managing protected areas. One of the challenges being faced is in "mid-development" countries - countries that have a growing commercial need for fishing but do not have the infrastructure in place to effectively manage their ocean resources. Poorer nations do not have the commercial means to severely impact their local sealife populations whereas well-developed countries have the required infrastructure in place to implement and enforce management policies. In between are the transitional mid-development countries that need both large bureaucratic and local community involvement - and there are places that have done that successfully.

"One of the things that we’re seeing that is giving me some signs of hope is that in many places throughout the Western Indian Ocean, there’s a real trend toward co-management. We’re seeing a very big devolution of power of managing of coastal resources from centralized governments toward communities," said Josh Cinner, social scientist from James Cook University. "There are some instances where you see examples of blending customary management and contemporary management. Where we do see this happening, we see great success—places like Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands, where there is considerably more fish inside of these community-managed areas."

During the annual meeting, it was also noted that healthy reef marine ecosystems have been shown to better withstand changes in their environment (temperature change, coral bleaching, etc.) - much like a healthy individual's ability to better ward off diseases due to good health that builds a strong immune system. The Pacific's Northern Line Islands were cited as an example and broader success is hoped for as these islands are within the larger U.S. National Marine Monument recently established.