Source · Select Committees · Environmental Audit Committee
Recommendation 19
19
Accepted in Part
To further improve the state of biodiversity in the Overseas Territories, we recommend that gaps...
Recommendation
To further improve the state of biodiversity in the Overseas Territories, we recommend that gaps in their protection be rectified. Namely, we recommend that: a) Ministers assure and set out the long-term funding plan for the Blue Belt Programme. In response to this report the Government should set out the programme’s long- term timetable, budget, and status following the Government’s 2021 Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy. b) Ministers review the environmental funding gap implications for the Overseas Territories following the UK leaving the EU. In response to this report Ministers should set out how the UK could fund landscape scale environmental projects with the potential for transformative biodiversity restoration. c) In the Government’s response to this report, Ministers should evaluate the feasibility of an environmental research portal for Overseas Territories. d) Ministers should consider opportunities to use increasing global aerial surveillance capabilities from high altitude or space to monitor the Blue Belt Programme. (Paragraph 75) International development and biodiversity
Government response summary AI-generated
The government is looking at options to secure funding for the Blue Belt Programme for the next three years and highlights £10 million per annum available via the Darwin Plus Programme. It will initiate a feasibility study for an environmental research portal, with consultations in January 2022, but the recommendation regarding increased global aerial surveillance was not explicitly addressed.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Government Response
Accepted in Part
HM Government · verbatim extract
Accepted in Part
Under the Blue Belt programme, we have established the Blue Belt Surveillance & Intelligence Hub (BBSIH), using a wide range of satellite systems to assess compliance and detect possible illegal activity across the waters of the Overseas Territories in the programme. The programme uses a suite of satellite (space) systems working closely with the Joint Maritime Security Centre to access Automatic Information System (AIS) intelligence. The programme has a contract with OceanMind for the analysis of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data supplemented with Sentinel 1 satellite data, electro-optical imagery and Visible Infrared Imagery Radiometry Suite (VIIRS) satellite data. Lastly, the programme is developing drones, in partnership with Virginia Tech and Loughborough University, and is trialling passive acoustics as a compliance and enforcement capability. The BBSIH uses intelligence from these sources to provide compliance information and recommendations to the Overseas Territories, as well as informing engagement with other states and international organisations.
Read the full response on Parliament ↗