I'm delighted to welcome my colleague Jonathan Hall to the Saving Special Places blog. Jonathan is Head of RSPB's UK Overseas Territory Unit and has been at the heart of our work to support the establishment of a marine protected area around Ascension Island. You can read some background to the story here and here.
The RSPB has been working with the remarkable UK Overseas Territory of Ascension Island for over fifteen years. Those staff who are fortunate enough to have visited know how warm and welcoming the community are, and how amazing the wildlife is. This British biodiversity hotspot is extraordinarily little known however. And this is despite the fact that it has the second largest green turtle population in the entire Atlantic, represents one of the most important tropical seabird breeding islands in the world, and is home to record-breaking marlin, threatened tuna, unique resplendent angelfish and vulnerable shark populations.
The RSPB initiated work towards a marine protected area around Ascension Island in 2013, and I have been delighted to be able to bring new partners to this island almost every year since. This February, I was fortunate enough to accompany the National Geographic Pristine Seas programme on their very first reconnaissance trip to the island, and the clever people in their film unit have put together this lovely short piece to showcase the island, its people, and its amazing marine life. Currently half of the rich waters around Ascension are being protected in a closed area, whilst further scientific work takes place to inform where the final boundaries of the fully-protected marine reserve should be designated, perhaps as soon as 2017. We look forward to continue working with the Ascension Island Government, the Great British Oceans coalition, and National Geographic during this process. In the meantime, please enjoy a glimpse of the beautiful marine life of Ascension. Courtesy of our friends at National Geographic!
Please note that, due to the limited length of their reconnaissance visit, National Geographic have also used stock library footage of species found at Ascension in the making of this film
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