By Harold Briley - The Falkland Islands, South Georgia or the British Antarctic Territories stand to benefit from an ambitious science research project to commemorate Ernest Shackleton’s 1914 trans-Antarctic expedition.
The South Atlantic Environmental Research Institute (SAERI) announced a new program: the South Atlantic Information Management System and GIS Centre, which officially brings together the UK South Atlantic Overseas Territories in SAERI’s South Atlantic scope that ranges from the equator down to the ice. The Centre is funded by the FCO via the UK’s Joint Nature Conservation Committee.
Falkland Islands governor Nigel Haywood said that the “Islanders will reply in next month’s referendum” whether Argentina could be in control of the Malvinas archipelago ‘within twenty years’, as was announced by Argentine Foreign Minister Hector Timerman earlier this week in London.
A two-man American and British film-making team is releasing the first of six video portraits of Falkland Islanders on-line today, Monday June 25th.
Foreign Office minister Jeremy Browne pledged UK respect for the results of the Falkland Islands referendum to be held next year, and called on all governments who prize democracy and human rights to do likewise.
To mark the 30th Anniversary of the Liberation of the Falkland Islands on 14th June 1982, a Service of Thanksgiving will be held in Christ Church Cathedral commencing at 10:00. Members of the public are asked to be seated by 09:45, according to a release from Gilbert House.
One of the worlds largest Marine Protected Areas (MPA) has been created around South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, waters that are amongst the most productive in the Southern Ocean. The SGSSI MPA, which was declared on February 27th, covers more than 1 million km². The report is from the South Georgia Newsletter, February edition.
The Falkland Island Government announced the appointment of Dr Paul Brickle to the post of Director of the new South Atlantic Environmental Research Institute (SAERI).
Last Sunday was Remembrance Sunday, the nearest Sunday to Armistice Day, the anniversary of the ending of the First World War, which came at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918.
Falklands’ Governor Nigel Haywood said UK relations with Chile go back over 200 years and it was “natural to have a strong relationship with a good neighbour”, reports the latest edition of Penguin News.