OTs are ‘Crown jewels’ of nature, Lords told

The biodiversity of Britain’s overseas territories including Gibraltar makes them the UK’s “crown jewels” of nature, Tory Peer Lord Randall told the House of Lords as part of its Queen’s speech debate.
As part of Monday’s debate within the upper House, Lord Randall implored Peers not to allow the overseas territories to “remain the Cinderella of the UK’s guardianship of nature, because they are our crown jewels”.
Highlighting how environmental matters had risen up the political agenda over the past 12 months, he said: “The UK has overseas territories that are incredibly rich in diverse nature ranging from the Indian Ocean to the South Atlantic and from the Caribbean to Gibraltar.”
“They are every bit as much of our biodiversity as the Chilterns or the Cairngorms. In fact, they have more diversity.”
This comes after the Minister for the Environment Dr John Cortes was selected by the Overseas Territories Environment Ministers to represent them at last month’s UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP25) in Madrid.
Dr Cortes attended a number of events including the plenary sessions and hosted a presentation on the Territories, including Gibraltar.