Climate Change and Biodiversity Conservation in the UK and EU
Overseas Entities
Background
This report was produced following the EU French Presidency conference
Climate Change and Biodiversity in the EU Overseas Entities held in Reunion
on 7-11 July 2008. While the conference addressed 29 Overseas Entities that
are territories of France, UK, Holland, Denmark, Spain and Portugal, the focus
of this paper is in relation to the 12 UK Overseas Territories (excluding the
European territories of Gibraltar and the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and
Dhekelia in Cyprus). The UK Crown Dependences were not considered or
involved in the conference and are not addressed in this paper.
The UK OTs are vitally important to the conservation of UK biodiversity
There are very high levels of biodiversity and endemism in the UK OTs as
most of them are islands, often isolated, and many are located within the
tropics. UK OTs occur in three global biodiversity hotspots – Pitcairn in the
Pacific; Gibraltar and Cyprus bases in the Mediterranean; and Montserrat,
British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands in the Caribbean. The OTs hold
regionally or globally important concentrations or assemblages of species.
For example, Ascension Island supports the second largest green turtle
rookery in the Atlantic; Gough Island (Tristan da Cunha) has been described
as, arguably, the most important seabird island in the world; and the reefs of
the Chagos Archipelago (British Indian Ocean Territory) are some of the most
pristine and best protected in the Indian Ocean, accounting for some 1.3% of
the world resource. The importance of parts of the Territories for nature
conservation is recognized through the designation of Gough Island &
Inaccessible Islands (Tristan da Cunha) and Henderson Island (Pitcairn
Islands) as World Heritage Sites for their natural heritage.
There are 80 critically endangered species in the UK OTs but only 10 in the
UK itself and a further 73 endangered species in the UK OTs but only 12 in
the UK. If vulnerable species are included too, then there are 187 in the UK
OTs and only 51 in the UK. Yet, excluding British Antarctic Territory, the UK
OTs occupy a land area of only 17,713 km2 – or around 7.5% of the land area
of mainland UK. Clearly, the habitats and species of the UK OTs represent a
substantial proportion of UK biodiversity, especially when the small extent of
these territories is considered. It is also evident that many of the highly
biodiverse ecosystems deliver goods and services that are vital to the local
populations in many localities.
The biodiversity of the UK OTs is threatened by many pressures and
vulnerable to climate change
There are many environmental threats to the biodiversity of the Overseas
Territories including from invasive alien species, over exploitation of
resources, pollution, habitat destruction, tourism and development impacts.
Along with the other EU Overseas Entities there is recognition that most of
these areas are also highly vulnerable to climate change impacts. Several
ecosystems within the UKOTs, such as mangroves and coral reefs in the
Caribbean and Pacific, sea ice biomes in the Antarctic, and Mediterraneantype ecosystems, are among those that the IPCC has identified as “most
vulnerable” and “virtually certain to experience the most severe ecological
impacts” of climate change.
The marine environment is at particular risk. On the Chagos Islands (British
Indian Ocean Territory) there are clear trends in sea surface temperature with
the 1998 ocean-warming episode resulting in widespread coral bleaching and
death. A warming event in the Caribbean resulted in 80-90% bleaching and
33% died. There is good evidence that unpolluted reefs can recover but those
that are polluted do not. By the 2030s warmer oceans are likely to result in
coral bleaching episodes every 3 to 5 years from which there will be
insufficient opportunity for recovery. In the Southern Ocean pteropods are a
key component of plankton that are already showing signs of pitted aragonite
shells owing to 30% reduction in H+ ions. Ocean acidification is likely to cause
serious food-chain issues by the 2050s. Sea-level rise is another serious
threat to most OTs. For example, in Bermuda sea-level has risen by 2mm per
annum between 1930 and 2000 but that rate is now increasing.
Thirty-nine extinctions have been recorded in the UK OTs while only one
(great auk) has occurred in the mainland UK in the recent past. Clearly there
is a need for greater conservation action in these Territories, including
responding to the impacts of climate change.
The OTs have limited capacity to conserve biodiversity and tackle
climate change
The 12 UK Overseas Territories range in population size from Pitcairn (47) to
Bermuda (65,733): the combined population of all 12 UK OTs is only 194,407.
The indigenous populations have an excessive burden in terms of biodiversity
conservation needs per capita – for example, Tristan da Cunha has eleven
globally threatened breeding birds but a human population of only 275. It is
also evident that many of them lack tools such as Regional Climate Models to
inform them of the potential climate change threat or sufficient individuals with
the necessary competencies or skills to address the climate change issue.
Regional collaboration to address climate change will clearly be valuable, for
example, CARICOM Climate Change Centre in the Caribbean has enabled
climatic monitoring to be carried out in a more integrated way with central
databases and an inventory of coastal resources. However, the mainland UK
has a clear role to play in helping the UK OTs to adapt to climate change. In
relation to biodiversity conservation this should involve the FCO, Defra,
Devolved Administrations, JNCC and Country Agencies. At the EU
conference it was clear that the UK OTs in particular felt isolated and
inadequately supported in delivering biodiversity conservation.
There is insufficient expenditure on biodiversity conservation in the OTs
The UK Government (through the FCO) and each of the OTs have agreed
Environmental Charters that set out environmental issues within each territory
and the actions that both parties will address. The OTs Environment
Programme (funded by FCO & DFID, with Defra & JNCC) funds some work
on biodiversity within the OTs along with the Darwin Initiative. There would
appear to be substantial under funding of biodiversity conservation in the UK
OTs. Around £1 million per annum is spent on biodiversity conservation in the
UK OTs which is around 500 times less than in the mainland UK. The RSPB
has calculated that £16 million per annum funding would be required for
biodiversity conservation in the OTs but only £1.5 million has been spent over
16 years through the Darwin Initiative. The administrations of the OTs are
restricted in that funding that is diverted to biodiversity conservation reduces
the development budget, and understandably they are reluctant to do this.
The Message from Reunion Island highlighted the need for additional funding
for biodiversity conservation. There was a proposal for the development of a
voluntary scheme for habitat and species conservation with an EU funding
stream.
Strategies to counter climate change and biodiversity loss in the OTs
Despite the EU Presidency conference being focused on climate change,
much of the discussion related to more generic biodiversity conservation
issues, such as sustainable management of resources, site designation, and
regional cooperation. In terms of adapting to climate change impacts, Chris
Thomas (University of York) identified the key adaptation strategies relevant
to OTs as increasing the total protected area, reducing other pressures and
protecting steep environmental gradients and heterogeneity in micro-climate,
hydrology and habitat. These are equivalent to three of the six UK Biodiversity
Partnership guidelines. The range of impacts of climate change on
biodiversity is similar globally. The UK Biodiversity Partnership guidelines
would appear equally applicable to the UK OTs as in the mainland UK.
A Message from Reunion Island has now been published that summarises the
recommendations that arose during the meeting (see separate pdf). Many of
them are focused at raising the profile of biodiversity conservation and the
Overseas Regions and Territories within the EU. Among the key
recommendations relating specifically to climate change and relevant to the
UK OTs were:
 Regional climate modelling is required to provide climate scenarios for
each of the Territories;
 Each territory should conduct a vulnerability assessment and produce
an adaptation action plan, involving all relevant sectors and
communities;
 All development projects should be assessed in relation to their
environmental impacts, incorporating mitigation and adaptation
measures where possible;
 The extent and number of protected areas within the Territories needs
to be increased to accommodate climate change impacts, particularly
through protecting environmentally diverse areas with environmental
gradients (a proposed voluntary scheme inspired by the Natura 2000
approach might help deliver this);
 The impact of all mitigation and adaptation proposals on biodiversity
and ecosystem goods and services should be considered using longer-
term environmental impact assessments and holistic approaches that
enable the environmental, social and development/economic costbenefits to be evaluated and balanced.
All but one of the 29 EU Overseas Entities are islands and were recognised
as potential observatories for climate change impacts and case studies for
sustainable development, including ecosystem management, invasive alien
species, renewable energy and adaptation measures. Some are already
seeking to act as exemplars for both mitigation and adaptation policies, for
example, marine spatial planning in Reunion and geothermal energy in
Guadeloupe. As small island ‘states’ that are often isolated there is a strong
need for local sustainable production in relation to both energy and food
security. There was consensus at the meeting that they all had a valuable role
to play in acting as case studies or exemplars of best practice at a smallscale.
The importance of biodiversity within the UK Overseas Territories and its
vulnerability to climate change impacts is clear. Limited indigenous capacity
to address the effects of climate change upon biodiversity is likely to limit the
potential for the Territories to be utilised as small-scale exemplars of best
practice in sustainable development and adaptation. There is potentially a role
for the JNCC and Country Agencies to facilitate such work on climate change
and biodiversity in the UK OTs.