PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
British Overseas Territories (4 February 2015)

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 22 December 2014 to Question 218601, what progress has been made towards establishing marine protected areas in Pitcairn, Ascension and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.

Asked by:
Kerry McCarthy (Labour)

We support Marine Protected Areas where they are scientifically justifiable, and where an effective monitoring and enforcement regime can be established and funded. An MPA around South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, covering the islands’ entire maritime zone was established in 2012, and its protective measures were extended in 2013. No decisions have yet been taken about designating MPAs around Pitcairn or Ascension, but we are working with both Territory Governments, and other stakeholders, to help determine the feasibility of establishing MPAs in these territories.

Answered by:
Lord Swire (Conservative)
9 February 2015