Between 19th November and 13th December 2012, a scientific research expedition will take place in the Chagos Archipelago (British Indian Ocean Territory – BIOT), supported and facilitated by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and numerous other institutions. Thirteen scientists and supporting team members will participate in the second full scientific expedition since the no-take marine protected area (MPA) was established in April 2010. The team’s research plans prioritise the establishment of pelagic monitoring methods within the MPA with the expedition, which will generate a series of recommendations for the establishment of a longterm monitoring programme for pelagic species in the marine reserve. These initiatives will assist the BIOT administration in understanding and managing the world’s largest fully no-take MPA, maintaining this area of extraordinarily rich marine and terrestrial biodiversity.

You can read about how this ties into long term research into open-oceaning monitoring strategies on the ZSL website.