Chagos Islands

Well, it’s nice to see there is still some decency in the world today. A Billionaire from Switzerland has used some of their vast resources to help save plans to create the largest marine reserve in the world, and alleviate the pressures placed upon it from public spending cuts.

Government officials are currently engaged in talks over a 3.5 million GBP deal for Ernesto Bertarelli, America’s Cup-winning yachtsman, to help fund the efforts to police the zone around the Chagos Islands.

The area which is due to be protected, dubbed the MPA, is going to cover quite a bit of area. The proposal is to cover somewhere around 250,000 square miles of sea around the archipelago in the Indian Ocean and include a “not take” reserve which is going to ban commercial fishing.

The plan was approved last April by David Miliband, then foreign secretary, even though there were complaints that the government was not taking the territory’s exiled population into consideration.

You see, the Chagos have been in the midst of a heated debate for a long time now, due to the fact that the islanders were exiled to make way for the Diego Garcia US airbase, and are continuing legal proceedings to return to their homes.

There are still other concerns that the project may fail due to the lack of private funding to offset the amount they would lose from tuna fishing licenses.

So, hats off to the billionaire for trying, and hopefully it will be pushed through. It isn’t often a billionaire steps aside and tries to do something good in the world.

A marine park will be formed at Camden Sound, Australia, in an effort to protect the Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae). Once hunted to the brink of extinction, the humpbacks have already bounced back considerably thanks to conservation efforts and they are now much sought after by whale-watchers, particularly off parts of Australia, Canada, and the United States.

“The Government recognises the Kimberley as one of Australia’s special places,” said Premier Colin Barnett as he unveiled the plans for the park. “That is why we are protecting Camden Sound, making it a marine park, and developing and implementing our Kimberley Science and Conservation Strategy. This strategy will balance the need to develop industry and create wealth with the expectation that the environment and special places will be protected. This remarkable area warrants protection as a first step in the broader conservation of the Kimberley.”

Environment Minister Donna Faragher added that Camden Sound is the largest calving area for humpbacks in the southern hemisphere.

“More than 1000 humpback whales can be found in the Camden Sound ‘maternity ward’ during the calving season,” Faragher said. “They are part of the biggest population of humpback whales in the world – numbering about 22,000 – that migrate from Antarctica every year to give birth in the waters off the north of our State.”

Faragher said the park will be created in consultation with the local indigenous community and all stakeholders with an interest in the area.

Allowing for consultation, including a public comment period of three months, a marine park could be established as early as mid-2010.

Camden Sound

Camden Sound is a bay in the Indian Ocean situated in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. The sound is a highly bio-diverse region; home to animals such as dugongs, crocodiles, sea-snakes, sharks, rays, and three species of sea turtle. Indo-Pacific humpbacked dolphins, Bottle-nosed dolphins, and the newly recognized Snub-fin dolphin can all be found within the borders of the proposed marine park. The sound is also visited by several species of whale, including False Killer whale, Bryde’s whale, Minke whale, and Dwarf Sperm whale. The corals reefs in the region are still fairly unharmed and varied the extensive mangrove forests found along the shores acts as nursery areas for fish and invertebrates.

Humpback whales born in Camden Sound stay there for several months after birth to grow big and strong enough to survive the long journey to the chilly Arctic waters where the humpbacks feed during the summer.

In addition to the recently proposed areas in the Pacific Ocean, (See this and this) president Bush now says he wants to find even more regions of the Pacific Ocean to protect.

This Friday, Bush made public that he has asked the secretaries of the Interior, Commerce and Defense to identify additional areas of the Pacific Ocean that could be eligible for conservation. He also revealed that the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary will be expanded by 585 square nautical miles and come to include the Davidson Seamount. Davidson Seamount is a 42 km long underwater mountain located roughly 120 km southwest of Monterey, California. The seamount rises 2400 meters off the ocean floor, but its highest point is still more than a kilometre below the surface.