page_title: British Indian Ocean Territory
section_title: Conservation
hierarchical_section_title: British Indian Ocean Territory / Geography / Conservation
caption_attribution_description: English: Salomons Atoll is one of the many above water features of the Chagos Archipelago
context_page_description: The British Indian Ocean Territory is a British overseas territory of the United Kingdom situated in the Indian Ocean halfway between Tanzania and Indonesia. The territory comprises the seven atolls of the Chagos Archipelago with over 1,000 individual islands – many very small – amounting to a total land area of 60 square kilometres. The largest and most southerly island is Diego Garcia, 27 km², the site of a joint military facility of the United Kingdom and the United States.
  The only inhabitants are US and British military personnel and associated contractors, who collectively number around 3,000. The forced removal of Chagossians from the Chagos Archipelago occurred between 1968 and 1973. The Chagossians, then numbering about 2,000 people, were expelled by the British government to Mauritius and Seychelles to allow the United States to build a joint UK–US military base there. Today, the exiled Chagossians are still trying to return, pointing out that the forced expulsion and dispossession was illegal, but the British government has repeatedly denied them the right of return. The islands are off-limits to Chagossians, casual tourists, and the media.
context_section_description: On 1 April 2010, the Chagos Marine Protected Area (MPA) was declared to cover the waters around the Chagos Archipelago. However, Mauritius objected stating this was contrary to its legal rights, and on 18 March 2015 the Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled that the MPA was illegal under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea as Mauritius had legally binding rights to fish in the waters surrounding the archipelago, to an eventual return of the archipelago, and to the preservation of any minerals or oil discovered in or near the archipelago prior to its return.
  The MPA's declaration doubled the total area of environmental no-take zones worldwide. The benefits of protecting this area are described as follows:
  Providing an environmental benchmark for other areas (unlike the rest of the world, the BIOT has been relatively untouched by man's actions);
  Providing a natural laboratory to help understand climate change;
  An opportunity for research related to marine science, biodiversity, and climate change;
  Acting as a reserve for species in danger in other areas; and
  Providing an export supply of surplus juveniles, larvae, seeds, and spores to help with output in neighbouring areas.
  The area had already been declared an Environmental (Preservation and Protection) Zone, but since the establishment of the MPA, fishing has no longer been permitted in the area.
  The BIOT Administration has facilitated several visits to the territory by the eldest Chagossians, and environmental training for UK-based Chagossians that allows some to become involved in scientific work (alongside visiting scientists).
  MV Pacific Marlin
  The BIOT Patrol Vessel the MV Pacific Marlin is based in Diego Garcia. It is presently operated by the Swire Pacific Offshore Group. The MV Pacific Marlin patrols the marine reserve all year, and since the marine reserve was designated in April 2010, the number of apprehensions of illegal vessels within the area has increased. The ship was built in 1978 as an oceangoing tug. It is 57.7 metres long with a draft of 3.8 metres and gross tonnage 1,200. It has a maximum speed of 12.5 knots with an economic speed of 11 knots, permitting a range of about 18,000 nautical miles and fuel endurance of 68 days. It is the oldest vessel in the Swire fleet.
caption: Salomons Atoll
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