Johnson pledges vast marine haven for British Overseas Territory

A BRITISH Overseas Territory is to become the world’s biggest marine conservation zone in order to save a rare albatross, as Boris Johnson vows to end the destruction of our oceans.

More than 4.3 million sq km (1.7 million sq miles) of some of the world’s most precious marine environment – 1 per cent of all the world’s ocean – will be protected following the scheme to safeguard Tristan da Cunha in the south Atlantic. The Government aims to enlist the help of other nations to bring this number up to 30 per cent by 2030.

The territory is home to many endangered creatures including the Tristan albatross, seven-gill sharks, the Gough bunting and the rockhopper penguin.

The Prime Minister told The Daily Telegraph: “We are killing our seas. We are turning the oceans into a horrific emulsion of plastic detritus.

“We cannot go on like this. And so I am deeply grateful to Tristan da Cunha and proud of Britain’s role in creating the blue belt programme – the biggest ever aquatic sanctuary, a vast and beautiful refuge for fish and birds and thousands of marine species whose very existence is now under threat”.

He urged other countries to follow: “The UK can be proud that we have helped to protect more than 4 million sq km of the world’s ocean, 17 times the size of our own island – we now need other countries to step up and join us.”

The isolated UK territory, home to the world’s most remote human settlement, has declared the largest fully protected marine reserve in the Atlantic Ocean at 687,000 sq km (265,000 sq miles). This will close more than 90 per cent of its waters to harmful activities.

Mr Johnson has been working on this scheme since his days in the Foreign Office, where he greenlit an RSPB campaign to save the oceans around the Atlantic island, which is near St Helena.

Beccy Speight, the RSPB chief executive, said: “This small community is responsible for one of the biggest conservation achievements of 2020.”