South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands announce Marine Protected Area to safeguard biodiversity
Foreign Office Minister Henry Bellingham has welcomed the declaration of a Marine Protected Area (MPA) around the UK Overseas Territory of South Georgia & South Sandwich Islands.
皇冠体育app MPA, announced today, joins over two hundred already in existence worldwide. It covers an area of over one million square kilometres (equivalent to four times the terrestrial area of the United Kingdom) of the Southern Ocean, and includes over 20,000 square kilometres of no-fishing zones.
皇冠体育app Foreign Office Minister said:
鈥溁使谔逵齛pp declaration of an MPA around South Georgia & South Sandwich Islands clearly demonstrates the UK鈥檚 effective environmental stewardship of this unique and remote part of the world.
鈥淚 am delighted that the UK has been able to demonstrate further evidence of our ongoing commitment to marine conservation and protection of the globally important biodiversity of our Overseas Territories.鈥�
Today鈥檚 MPA draws together a range of new and existing policies to help further protect the incredibly rich biodiversity of the islands, which has some of the most important and productive fish spawning grounds in the Southern Ocean.
皇冠体育app area is also home to seven species of globally threatened seabirds, including the wandering albatross, and so is of great international importance. Protecting these populations is now more important than ever.
South Georgia鈥檚 wildlife has recently been highlighted in the BBC鈥檚 鈥楩rozen Planet鈥� series. On hearing of today鈥檚 announcement Sir David Attenborough, who presents the documentary series, said:
鈥淚 am delighted to hear of the decision to create one of the world鈥檚 largest marine reserves, which will help protect the unique and precious wildlife of South Georgia and Antarctica. This is extremely timely given the dramatic change that the polar regions are currently undergoing.鈥�