South Atlantic Island Creates Huge Marine Protection Area

 

Tristan da Cunha is an island in the South Atlantic Ocean with only 245 permanent residents. Those residents have declared a marine¹ protection area three times the size of Britain to help keep safe endangered animals. These include rockhopper penguins², the yellow-nosed albatross and other wildlife.

The island is supervised by the British government. People there call it the most remote inhabited island on Earth. The government said Friday that fishing and other activities will be banned from 627,247 square kilometers of ocean around Tristan da Cunha and the archipelago's three other major islands. The area will be the biggest "no-take zone" in the Atlantic Ocean and the fourth biggest anywhere in the world.

The goal is to protect fish that live in the waters and tens of millions of seabirds that feed on them, the island government said. The remote area is nearly equidistant from South Africa and Argentina.

The Pew Bertarelli Ocean Legacy³ project, an environmental effort, says the island supports 85 percent of the endangered northern rockhopper penguins, 11 kinds of whales and dolphins and most of the world's fur seals outside of Antarctica.

"Our life on Tristan da Cunha has always been based around our relationship with the sea, and that continues today," James Glass said in a statement. He is the Chief Islander. "That's why we're fully⁴ protecting 90 percent of our waters," he added.

The protection zone will become part of Britain's Blue Belt Program. It provides $35.5 million to assist marine conservation in the country's overseas territories. The program has now protected 11.1 million square kilometers of marine areas. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's office said that is equal to one percent of the world's oceans.

The waters around Tristan da Cunha serve as a feeding ground for the endangered Tristan albatross and yellow-nosed albatross.

The islands are also home to several kinds of land birds that live nowhere else. They include the Wilkins bunting, Britain's rarest bird, and the inaccessible⁵ rail, the world's smallest flightless bird, said the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.

The Pew Bertarelli Ocean Legacy project assists with the creation of marine protected areas around the world. It said it would help Tristan da Cunha protect its waters with technology that uses real-time information to look at ocean conditions and human activity such as fishing. It is a joint⁶ project of the Pew Charitable Trusts and the Bertarelli Foundation.

The "decision by the Tristan da Cunha Island Council to protect the archipelago's waters is a great example of local leadership that has a global impact," Dona Bertarelli said in a statement. She is co-chair of the Bertarelli Foundation.

The area includes four main islands. The largest is Tristan da Cunha, located 2,810 kilometers west of Cape⁷ Town, South Africa. Britain took possession of Tristan da Cunha in 1816 and established the first permanent settlement.

Words in This Story

remote– adj. far away from other things

archipelago– n. a group of islands

zone–n. an area that is different or set apart for a special reason

albatross– n.a large ocean bird with very long wings

equidistant– adj. of equal distance, at an equal distance from two or more places

global– adj. involving the whole world

impact–n. a powerful or major influence

1 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

2 penguins   

n.企鹅( penguin的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Why can penguins live in cold environment? 为什么企鹅能生活在寒冷的环境中？ 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Whales, seals, penguins, and turtles have flippers. 鲸、海豹，企鹅和海龟均有鳍形肢。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

3 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

4 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

5 inaccessible   

adj.达不到的，难接近的

参考例句：

• This novel seems to me among the most inaccessible.这本书对我来说是最难懂的小说之一。
• The top of Mount Everest is the most inaccessible place in the world.珠穆朗玛峰是世界上最难到达的地方。

6 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

7 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。