Who are we
Overseas Territories Conservation exists to promote the co-ordinated conservation of the diverse and increasingly threatened plant and animal species and natural ecosystems across all of UK’s Overseas Territories (UKOTs) and Crown Dependencies (CDs). It aims to do this by providing assistance in the form of expertise, information and liaison between non-governmental organisations and governments, both in the UK and in the Territories themselves.
Mission, vision and values
About us
We were founded in 1987 and formally constituted as a charitable company in 1996. We bring together, as our Members and associate organisations, conservation and science bodies in the UKOTs & CDs and supporting ones in the UK, as well as a wider network of specialist volunteers.
Our vision
We believe that that nature conservation can be a positive force for improving the relationship between human culture and wild nature. This can improve the socio-economic situation and makes an essential contribution to the well-being of the community of life and the processes which sustain it.
It is often assumed that nature conservation and development are in competition and that some sort of balance is needed between them. Whilst we accept that this may be the case in relatively rare cases, we recognise that, more usually, well-planned sustainable development is not only compatible with nature conservation, but actually depends on sustaining those natural systems.
There is a great range of biodiversity in the UK Overseas Territories; this is a tremendous asset to the Territories, and we share a global responsibility to conserve it.
We strive to support – and facilitate others to support – activities of other like-minded organisations and individuals in particular to help the work of locally based groups devoted to conservation action in the UK Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies
Our priorities
- To support conservation groups in the UK Overseas Territories, and to publicise conservation activities and successes
- To facilitate design and management of projects
- To seek funding for projects in the UKOTs and for our on-going activities
- To assist the development of biodiversity targets and action plans to achieve these for each UK Overseas Territories
- To facilitate the implementation of international conservation conventions
- To promote compilations of existing data, surveys of biodiversity and ecological studies, to inform plans for sustainable use and conservation
- To network information amongst UK and its Overseas Territories conservation groups, governments, educators and environmentalists
- To raise public awareness about the wealth of biodiversity in UKOTs, and potential threats