The Government of United Kingdom rolled out a new plan to save endangered wildlife across its 14 Overseas Territories, which are home to 94 percent of Britain’s unique species and a quarter of the world’s penguins, a UK government statement said. Stretching from the Antarctic to the Caribbean, these territories support ecosystems ranging from coral reefs to polar ice—and now face mounting threats from climate change, invasive species, and habitat loss. It’s the first time all the territories have joined forces under one conservation strategy.
More than 40,000 species have been recorded in these remote places. Nearly 1,900 of them exist nowhere else on the planet. That includes the mountain chicken frog in Montserrat, which dwarfs its European cousins and can leap two meters in a single bound. There’s also the Bermuda petrel, nicknamed the “Lazarus species” after scientists found it alive 300 years after declaring it extinct. Emperor penguins, green turtles, and the Atlantic’s second-largest green turtle nesting site on Ascension Island all depend on these habitats.
Nature Minister Mary Creagh said the territories hold thousands of species found nowhere else, from Antarctica’s polar landscapes to St Helena’s cloud forests. “This precious biodiversity is under threat from global warming and it is our duty to protect it,” she said. Stephen Doughty, Minister for the Overseas Territories, pointed out that many of these places sit on the climate crisis front lines, making protection urgent.
The new strategy lays out six goals with clear steps each territory needs to take. Ministers will check in every three years to see what’s working and what needs tweaking. The UK Darwin Plus Fund just put roughly £5 million toward nature restoration projects in the territories, backing work that matters for both wildlife and people who rely on tourism and fishing to make a living.
John Cortes, Gibraltar’s Environment Minister, called it proof of what teamwork across scattered islands can accomplish. The plan also supports local communities—Anguilla’s sand dunes shield neighborhoods from storm surges, while Cayman mangroves trap carbon. It ties into the UK’s bigger pledge to protect 30 percent of its land and seas by 2030, announced as territory leaders gathered with UK ministers in London.
