TRISTAN DA CUNHA

Subject : Environment

Context : The isolated UK Overseas Territory of Tristan da Cunha, which is home to the world’s most remote human settlement, declared the largest fully protected marine reserves in the Atlantic Ocean at 687,000 square kilometres.

Concept :

• Tristan da Cunha, which is inhabited by less than 300 humans is a small chain of islands over 6,000 miles from London in the South Atlantic and the water around the islands are considered to be the richest in the world.
• Tristan da Cunha is home to tens of millions of seabirds and several unique land birds that are comparable to the Galapagos island finches, as per the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB).
• The island group is also home to the World Heritage Site of Gough and Inaccessible Islands, which is one of the most important seabird islands in the world.

What does the announcement mean for the island group?

• After joining the UK’s Blue Belt Programme, it will become the largest no-take zone in the Atlantic and the fourth largest on the planet. This means fishing, mining and any such activities will not be allowed.