Fortress conservation at sea A commentary on the Chagos marine protected area

The world s largest no-take Marine Protected Area in Chagos is examined in light of the Convention on Biological Diversity s provisions on Access and Benefit Sharing as well as terrestrial experiences with fortress conservation It is acknowledged that this closure presents a unique opportunity to preserve an ecologically pristine area However the means by which the political process unfolded are brought into question In particular the fact that the UK proceeded with designating the area whilst the European Court of Human Rights was deliberating the right of native Chagossians to return to the island is questioned In addition it is argued that the scale of the area poses significant management and enforcement challenges which are not necessarily taken into consideration in the rush for large no-take Marine Protected Areas (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved