New Director appointed

We are delighted to announce the appointment of our new Director, Sarah Puntan-Galea, who will take the reins of CCT in early May.

Sarah will help the Board of Trustees drive the vision and mission of the Trust, create and execute the 2023-2028 strategy, plus oversee and implement all aspects of the organisation’s operations. From the delivery of the flagship rewilding project Healthy Islands, Healthy Reefs and raising funds, to leading on all programmes, communications, events, and the deepening of relationships with key partners including government, CCT members, and the Chagossian community.

“I am excited to join the Trust at such a crucial time, especially as it approaches its 30th anniversary. At a time when there are so few unspoiled wild places in the world, CCT’s work to protect and conserve the globally important marine ecosystem of the Chagos Archipelago is more important than ever.

“And by ensuring the natural environment of the Chagos is well understood, we can inspire the better management and protection of our planet. Not just reminding us of how tropical reefs flourished hundreds of years ago, but also offering insight into how they might be saved in other parts of the world for generations to come.”

Before joining CCT, Sarah was a Director at a social housing association, Deputy Director of the Ditchley Foundation, and had worked in various roles for the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Maltese government. These included leading HM The Queen’s communications during Commonwealth Heads Of Government Meeting 2015, to being Spokesperson for both a Foreign Minister and Prime Minister.

With a political science degree and postgraduate qualifications in journalism, teaching and economics, Sarah worked as a TV, newspaper and magazine journalist before that, in both the UK and Malta, winning awards including Malta’s Columnist of the Year when Editor of the country’s highest-circulating magazine.

Based in rural South Wales, Sarah spends her free time birding and hiking with her dog Digby. She is an active member of the Ramblers Cymru, Gower Ornithological Society, and the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales, and will have just returned from volunteer seabird monitoring on Skomer Island (off the Pembrokeshire coast) before joining CCT.

She also campaigned for BirdLife when she lived in Malta, and has a particular interest in small island states, seabirds (especially shearwaters), and how climate change is affecting both. She is currently pursuing ornithological studies and a MBA at Swansea Business School.