The creation of a marine reserve around the Pitcairn islands (pictured) in the South Pacific was announced in the UK budget on 18 March. The status depends on agreeing on satellite monitoring and a way to enforce protection of the area, a British territory. On the same day, an international court in The Hague, the Netherlands, ruled that when a similar reserve was created around the Indian Oceans Chagos islands in 2010, the United Kingdom failed in its duty to consult Mauritius, which has fishing rights in the archipelago. The ruling, by the Permanent Court of Arbitration, puts the future of marine protection in Chagos in doubt.
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