Is the CEN working with Chagossian groups?
Through our member the Chagos Conservation Trust, the CEN has developed contacts with some of the Chagossian groups based in the UK, and indeed we invited them to speak at the launch of our campaign at the Royal Society in April 2009. At that meeting – whilst not specifically endorsing the CEN proposal – Allen Vincatassin, Patron of the Diego Garcian Society and himself a former resident of the Chagos islands, said: “As I saw on my recent visit to Diego Garcia and the Chagos, the pristine environment of the archipelago has to be continuously preserved. We are keen to work in partnership with the Chagos Conservation Trust. Preservation of the environment goes beyond the sphere of politics.” On the 19th of November 2009 the Chagos Conservation Trust held a workshop with one of the UK-based Chagossian communities to discuss the global importance of coral reefs. The workshop was also attended by Dr Allen Vincatassin, a representative of the RSPB, and Coral Cay Conservation (CCC). CCC offer
