King penguins and glaciers (GSGSSI/PA)
The entire land area of a remote UK overseas territory will be given protected status to conserve its rich wildlife, its government has said.
The Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (GSGSSI) said it intends to designate the entire 3,800 square kilometre (nearly 1,500 square miles) landmass of the islands as terrestrial protected areas.
It said the designation would complement the marine protected area around the islands which is five times larger than the UK and includes a 283,000 square kilometre (109,000 square mile) fully protected reserve where all fishing is banned.
Fur seal pups are among the wildlife on the islands (GSGSSI/PA)
JNCC Interim CEO appointed
From:
14 December 2020
Gemma Harper has been appointed as the Interim Chief Executive of JNCC following an open competition. Currently Deputy Director for Marine Policy in core Defra, Gemma will take up her new role in March 2021 once Marcus Yeo steps down.
Earlier in 2020, Gemma co-led the Food Vulnerability Directorate for several months as part of Defra’s coronavirus response. Gemma is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences, and external advisor to both the European Centre for the Environment and Human Health (ECEHH) and the Capabilities in Academic Policy Engagement partnership (CAPE).
A social scientist by training, Gemma spent eight years in criminal justice research at the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice prior to joining Defra in 2010. From 2010 to 2017, Gemma was Defra’s Chief Social Scientist. She has been awarded the Defra Leadership Award twice and co-led the Food Vulnerability Directorate to win a Defra Team Award and to