Establish a Marine Reserve in the Chagos Islands - The Petition Site

The Chagos Islands, located near the centre of the Indian Ocean, are a UK Overseas territory and by far the richest marine ecosystem under British jurisdiction. They are a very special and rare place, a relatively unpolluted and undisturbed part of the world, with reefs and oceans still teeming with life.

Yet marine life almost everywhere – including fish, invertebrates, mammals, seabirds and turtles – is suffering massive losses as a result of over-exploitation, bycatch and pollution. Combine these with the effects of acidification brought about from rising carbon dioxide emissions, and the very survival of many marine species is in doubt.

With your help, we can protect the reef and ocean ecosystem of the Chagos for present and future generations – but we only have until 12 February 2010 to convince the UK government! Please sign our petition urging the British government to declare the world's largest marine protected area and give protection to one of the best coral reefs left on this planet.

Please note: Your signature and mailing address will be sent with the petition letter in hard copy to David Miliband as part of our campaign, and through British Freedom of Information legislation this could be made publicly available. Thank you for speaking out for our oceans!

via thepetitionsite.com

Posted via web from 1txsage1957's posterous

Comments

[ChagosUK]

Protecting the Chagos marine environment is very important, but we should not forget the indigenous people of the Chagos islands - the Chagossians - who were cruelly exiled from their homeland in the 1960s and 1970s and have been campaigning to return ever since.

A complete no-take fishing ban in Chagos, as proposed by the authors of this petition, would seriously jeopardise the chances of a Chagossian resettlement being viable. Instead, we should be campaigning for an environmental protection regime that works with the Chagossians, not against them.

We should be saying YES to environmental protection and YES to the Chagossians' right to return. YES, YES and nothing less!

Please check out the UK Chagos Support Association, our blog, and our Twitter account!