BIOT (Chagos) - Bio-Security
BIOT Chagos Biosecurity Rules
There is an increased emphasis on the environmental value of this British Indian Ocean Territory, which has the greatest marine biodiversity in the UK and its Overseas Territories, as well as some of the cleanest seas and healthiest reef systems in the world.
BIOT Chagos is home to the world’s biggest arthropod, the coconut crab and the outer islands and atolls are colonised by internationally important numbers of seabirds, with many thousands of pairs of sooty terns, brown boobies and red-footed boobies regularly breeding there. Endemic species of coral and reef fish inhabit the c. 4,000 km² of shallow coral reefs, which also support over six times the amount of fish that are found on any other Indian Ocean reef.
The BIOT Administration has identified 11 conservation and environmental priorities to ensure the protection of this unique environment for the future.
Visits to the islands are tightly controlled and certain restrictions put in place; some of the islands have been designated as Strict Nature Reserves and it is illegal to enter them. If you are granted permission to visit, you must moor your vessel at BIOT approved sites only, to help conserve BIOT’s fragile coral environment.
See BIOT/How to Apply for a Mooring Permit for information on Restrictions, Nature Reserves and Permitted Areas.
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Courtesy Flag Discounts
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YachtFlags.com provides high quality courtesy flags that are manufactured in durable Knitted Polyester fabric. Knitted so that the fabric itself does not deteriorate in the constant movement that marine flags are usually exposed to, and polyester so that the flag does not weaken in the strong UV-light usually found in the main sailing areas of the world.
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What is the vessel name responsible for the vandalism?
Reported by Kara Sewell, Assistant Administrator, British Indian Ocean Territory Administration:A member of the public applied for a mooring permit. I had assessed their application form and insurance documents and was satisfied with these. I had then provided a mooring permit to the individual. The individual was accompanied by his family. During their stay in British Indian Ocean Territory, they had carved the name of their yacht into one of the pine trees. This vandalism was later discovered by one of my colleagues who is located in the Territory. By the time my colleague discovered this, the individual and his family had departed the territory so we were unfortunately unable to prosecute them. I had confronted him about the vandalism via email but he refused to respond.
We wish to remind vessels that moor in BIOT, that vandalism is unacceptable and legal action will be taken for anyone found vandalising BIOT’s natural resources.[Editor’s Note: See https://www.noonsite.com/place/biot-chagos/formalities#restrictions-section
for what is and isn’t permitted in BIOT].
This infuriates me! It would be nice if the next country to see this boat was to deny them entry. Unbelievable!
Posted on behalf of SY Adina – currently in BIOT:
Really beautiful in BIOT/Chagos. They are now using spotter planes to check on us! The pilot called us up on VHF16 and I read all the boat names to him – clearly had a list and he quickly recalled them. Very polite and wished us well.
Posted on behalf of Katja Verheul:
At the moment I am doing research for a 20-min documentary about the Chagos Archipelago, which will be finished in July 2016 as part of my research as a Master at Goldsmiths University in London. A part of the documentary will be based on stories of sailors who visited the island, preferably in the ’80s and the ’90s.
I was hoping that through noonsite I could get in touch with some cruisers who have been here and ask them some questions about their stay and experience of the islands. Please e-mail me at va301kv(at)gold.ac.uk if you are able to assist.