The Chagos archipelago is located in the middle of the Indian Ocean and consists of 55 low-lying coral islands that span across 550,000 square kilometers. The Chagossian waters are home to the world’s largest coral atoll and contain as much as half of the Indian Ocean’s remaining healthy reefs. Threats to the area include illegal fishing of rays and sharks and reef damaged caused by rising global temperatures. In 2010, after years of work by numerous nongovernmental organizations, the 640,000-sq-km Chagos Marine Reserve was declared by the UK, closing the entire area to commercial fishing.
