Chagos MPA Workshop

Managing a Marine Protected Area in the Chagos Archipelago: Socio-economic considerations

Despite the difficult travelling conditions, 34 people from as far afield as Oban and Plymouth braved the snow to attend a workshop held on 7 January 2010 at Royal Holloway, University of London, in Egham, Surrey.  MET took the lead in organising the event, which was held to discuss social, economic and fisheries issues related to the proposed creation of a Marine Protected Area (MPA) in the Chagos Archipelago. 

During plenary presentations, Professor Charles Sheppard (University of Warwick) highlighted the global importance of the archipelago and the strong need to protect it, and Dr Mark Spalding (University of Cambridge) discussed the threats to the Chagos reefs from climate change.  Dr Chris Mees (MRAG) provided an overview of current fishery operations, Pippa Gravestock (University of York) discussed the relative importance of use and non-use values of Chagos' marine resources, and Fran Humber (Blue Ventures Conservation) used the award-winning Velondriake programme in Madagascar as a case study of community management of MPAs.

The workshop was also addressed by Jeremy Corbyn, MP, Chair of the Chagos Islands All Party Parlimentary Group, and by Roch Evenor, Secretary of the UK Chagos Support Association.

Other delegates from marine centres, universities and NGOs had their say during working groups to discuss socio-economic obstacles and opportunities in the context of a possible Chagos MPA.  

The workshop report will be submitted as part of the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office consultation on the issue.

The workshop was supported by the JRSST Charitable Trust , the NERC Oceans 2025 programme, and by Royal Holloway, University of London.