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Q. How can it be that the world’s third largest frog,
the smallest lizard and the largest coral atoll all fall under
the jurisdiction of the UK?
A. The UK’s responsibility for biodiversity conservation
isn’t confined just to the mainland! There are 15 UK
Overseas Territories (UKOTs) scattered across the globe. These
last fragments of British overseas administration (the former
British Empire) include some of the most remote and biologically
interesting places on Earth.
Before
clicking onto the Map how many UKOTs can you name?
The UKOTs have an extremely diverse variety of habitats ranging
from ice fields and windswept rocky islands to tropical forests
and pristine beaches of tropical atolls. Because they are
mostly small remote islands, they have many endemic species.
Endemic species occur in very restricted areas and nowhere
else in the world and so have enormous importance for conservation.
A staggering number of endemic species have already been described
in UKOTs – at least 178 plants, 54 birds, 39 reptiles
and amphibians, and 685 terrestrial invertebrates - but there
are huge gaps in our knowledge. By comparison, mainland UK
is well studied but has very few endemic species – most
UK species are also found in northern Europe.
Many Territories are archipelagos – chains of small islands
– and many of these are uninhabited and of great significance
for biodiversity. The flora and fauna of these tiny remnants
of the British Empire are a conservation priority on the global
stage and seven UKOTs are located within biodiversity hotspots.
RBG Kew has a strong relationship with UKOTs which includes
not just conservation but training local people, helping to
build their own capacity to manage their natural resources
and assisting them in documenting their biodiversity. The
UK Overseas Territories Programme is one of our key science
programmes.
Back to Wild Science index >>>
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