Mission Blue Hope Spots Website: http://mission-blue.org/hope-spots-new/

The Chagos archipelago, designated a Hope Spot by Mission Blue, is located in the middle of the Indian Ocean and consists of 55 low-lying coral islands and is home to the world’s largest coral atoll and as much as half of the Indian Ocean’s remaining healthy reefs.  Originally part of the Mauritian territory, Chagos was declared part of the British Indian Ocean Territory in the 1960s which consequently leased the largest island to the US for use as an airbase.  In 2010, after years of work by numerous NGOs, the 640,000 sq km Chagos Marine Reserve (Chagos Conservation Trust) was declared by the UK.  The entire area has been closed to commercial fishing since that time and there are currently legal challenges to the marine reserve as it impacts the return to the islands by native Chagossian people who were displaced when the airbase was built.