[Coral-List] Chagos Marine Protected Area - Update
Richard Dunne
RichardPDunne at aol.com
Sun Feb 13 05:48:31 EST 2011
CHAGOS MARINE PROTECTED AREA - UPDATE
_THE TELEGRAPH NEWSPAPER - ARTICLE BY BEN FOGLE_
Ben Fogle, writer and broadcaster, wrote yesterday (12 Feb 2011) in the
Telegraph Newspaper:
"It [Chagos] is a story – described by some as one of the darkest days
in British overseas policy – that has transfixed me for more than a
decade and shaken my very principles on conservation, ecology and the
environment movement.
..... I have been involved with the plight of the Chagos islanders for a
decade, ever since I visited the islands, which I had to do illegally. I
was there researching my book, The Teatime Islands, about Britain’s
remaining Overseas Territories, and chartered a boat from the Maldives,
500 miles to the north. It felt eerie walking through Chagos’s ghost
towns frozen in time. Vegetation had smothered many of the buildings,
choking the stones in the graveyard, while sunlight streaked through the
stained-glass windows of the deserted church. I was doubly horrified to
find dozens of international travellers living among the ruins while the
islanders remained pariahs, exiled by their own government.
....... Last year, I visited Crawley for a day celebrating Chagossian
culture. Hundreds of Chagossians attended with photos, paintings,
diaries and food that represented their vanishing culture. “I have one
dying wish,” whispered an elderly Chagossian, still traumatised by her
forced exile. “To set foot on my island and clear my husband’s grave.
Then I can die happy.” It seems a simple wish, but one which, in a new
twist, has now been thwarted by the powerful environmental lobby. Last
year, the islands were declared a marine sanctuary in which no people
would be allowed to live, news that was greeted with delight by
environmentalists but was condemned by human rights groups.
...... When I was originally asked to support the creation of the
sanctuary, I was assured that the protectorate would include a clause
that would allow the Chagossians to return home. Yet it now appears
that, once again, the government has used environmental blackmail to get
its own way. I was duped into supporting a scheme in violation of basic
human rights, and I have since spoken to a number of scientists who
agree that they too were misled.
....... By reneging on my support, I am essentially going against the
RSPB, Greenpeace, the Shark Trust and even my old friend TV presenter
Kate Humble, all of whom have pledged their full support for the
sanctuary. Instead, I have agreed to become joint patron of the UK
Chagos Support Association and will be helping the islanders in a final
bid to go home.
....... Financing the new marine reserve is a huge concern. The area is
patrolled by the Pacific Marlin, a vessel that costs £1.7 million a year
to operate. Until recently, licences sold to French, Spanish, Korean and
Taiwanese tuna-fishing vessels contributed about £1 million a year to
the cost. A faster patrol ship will probably be necessary to prevent
illegal fishing in the new reserve, but who will foot the bill? And all
this at a time when the Government is selling off its own forests and
cutting back on National Park spending. It simply doesn’t add up. [note:
effective policing of the Chagos MPA should cost in the order of £12.8M
- based on Balmford et al 2004 PNAS]
......... It seems to me that governments are increasingly using
environmental causes to “greenwash” issues. I remain a passionate
advocate for the environmental movement, but we must not allow ourselves
to be dazzled by “green” policy, blinding us to the bigger picture.
We fight tooth and nail to avoid animals becoming extinct. Surely we owe
the same to an island people.
For the full article see:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/mauritius/8320609/Ben-Fogle-My-fight-for-the-forgotten-islanders.html
_MAURITIUS - MPA DISPUTE & THE UNITED NATIONS_
Mauritius has already submitted the issue of the MPA for dispute
settlement under provisions of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the
Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). For a details see the article by Irini
Papanicolopulu (Marie Curie Fellow, Faculty of Law, University of Oxford
and a Senior Researcher in international law at the University of
Milano-Bicocca) in the European Journal of International Law (Talk) at
http://www.ejiltalk.org/
In addition, Mauritius has now announced that it proposes to initiate
action at the United Nations General Assembly to pursue its claim for
sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago. [The Chagos were illegally
removed by Britain from the the former colony of Mauritius in 1965,
contrary to UN General Assembly Declaration 1514 and General Resolution
2066]. On 31 Jan 2011 at the 16th Summit at Addis Ababa, the 52 nations
of the African Union gave their full support to Mauritius' proposed
action (see http://au.int/en/summit/decisions).
Both of these actions could in due course result in the matter being
referred to the International Court of Justice by the UN for a ruling on
the sovereignty of the Chagos. This route was blocked by the United
Kingdom in 2004 when Mauritius itself proposed this action.
_MAURITIUS - TRADITIONAL FISHING RIGHTS
_After enquiry, the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office has unofficially
confirmed that traditional fishing rights were conferred on Mauritian
fishing vessels in 1965 when the Chagos were detached, a position which
Mauritius upholds. The cessation of all commercial licences (including
to Mauritian vessels) in November last year in the MPA cannot therefore
be declared unilaterally. This also forms part of Mauritius claim in the
dispute settlement.
_MALDIVES - EEZ DISPUTE_
In September last year the Maldives confirmed that it considered the
Chagos to be uninhabited (ironically the UK Government also argues that
the islands are uninhabitable) and therefore unable to claim a 200nm EEZ
and that it intended to lay this before the UN early this year. The
Maldives presently claims part of the MPA in the north as its own EEZ.
_DIEGO GARCIA US MILITARY BASE_
The latest US DoD Base Structure Report (2010) values the replacement
value of the base at US $3 Billion. In August last year the 23,000 ton
submarine tender, the USS Emory S Land was deployed to Diego Garcia to
support and repair nuclear submarines (SSN and SSGN) of the US 5th
Fleet. The USS Emory S Land was last based at La Maddalena, Italy where
in 2007 she was forced to leave due to protests about radioactive
pollution. Ironically, she will now be in the lagoon at Diego Garcia
which is a Ramsar Wetlands Site of international conservation
importance. Diego Garcia and the 3nm territorial sea is of course
excluded from the MPA. The US Military personnel presently remove 25
tonnes of fish annually from these waters for recreation.
_CHAGOS MPA - IS IT PART OF AN EEZ?_
The status of the MPA remains unclear pending clarification by the UK.
At the moment the UK's declared 200nm Environment Preservation &
Protection Zone (claimed in 2003) does not appear to amount to a claim
to an EEZ under UNCLOS. This leaves considerable doubt about the
legality of a 'no take' MPA. We hope to have a clearer position shortly,
pending further enquiry. The UK has not implemented any legislation for
the new MPA yet and relies on its existing laws for enforcement.
--
Richard P Dunne
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