The 2010 Declaration of a Marine Protected Area around the Chagos Archipelago: Some Legal Reflections

Abstract

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) was adopted in Montego Bay, Jamaica, in 1982 following negotiations that took place at the third UN Conference on the Law of the Sea since 1973.1 UNCLOS, which is often described as the Constitution of the Oceans, provides an internationally agreed framework for navigation, the exploitation of resources, and the conservation of the oceans.2 Part VII, section 2 of the convention provides for the conservation and management of the living resources of the high seas,3 and Part XII sets out the obligations of states with regard to the protection and preservation of the environment.4 Various other international conventions and declarations also stress the need to protect and preserve the oceans. Agenda 21, adopted by the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), which was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992, declared that the marine environment, including the oceans and all seas and adjacent coastal areas, forms an integrated whole that is an essential component of the global life support system and a positive asset that presents opportunities for sustainable development. The declaration called for new approaches to marine and coastal area management and development at the national, sub-regional, regional, and global levels—approaches that are integrated in content and are precautionary and anticipatory in ambit, as reflected in the following programme areas: ...