The citizens of Tristan da Cunha – the most remote inhabited islands on Earth – have banned fishing and mining in their waters, creating the largest no- take zone in the Atlantic and the fourth largest worldwide.
The volcanic archipelago, a UK dependent territory 2,400km west of Cape Town, with a population of fewer than 300, has designated nearly 700,000km² of sovereign waters (about three times the land area of the UK) a Marine Protected Area.
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“Our life on Tristan da Cunha has always been based around our relationship with the sea,” said James Glass, who has served as Tristan da Cunha chief islander, in a statement. “The Tristan community is deeply committed to conservation: on land, we’ve already declared protected status for more than half our territory. But the sea is our vital resource, for our economy and ultimately for our long-term survival.”
The islands and their waters are, says Jonathan Hall, RSPB’s former head of UK overseas territories, “one of the most pristine temperate ecosystems on the planet.”
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“Albatrosses that feed along the South American and African coasts and shearwaters that feed off Ireland all come here to breed. Blue sharks – the most heavily fished of all sharks – come here to pup from all around the South Atlantic,” adds Hall.
