Protecting Antarctica's geological heritage

• Published in: Antarctic Science
• Main Authors: Carson, Chris J., Atkins, Cliff B., Hughes, Kevin A., Reguero, Marcelo Alfredo
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press
• Subjects: Geoconservation; Geo.Heritage; Protection; Antarctica; https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.5; https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1; Antarctic; The Antarctic; Pensacola Mountains; Dufek Massif; Antarc*; Antarctic Science; SCAR
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11336/101398

Since the International Geophysical Year(1957/58),conservation of sites of biological and ecological significance has been an important objective for many nations active in the Antarctic. Although conservation, as such,was not considered in the original Antarctic Treaty provisions in 1961,it was soon introduced through the Agreed Measures developed in 1964. The designation of particular areas,initially to protect scientific research and then to conserve key examples of Antarctic habitats, was a cause supported by the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) and agreed by Treaty Parties in the form of Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and then Specially Protected Areas (SPA). At that stage non-biological sites could not be designated as SPAs and it took until 1989 for the Parties to recognize this might be necessary for outstanding geological sites and establishS pecially Reserved Areas (SRA) of which only one - the Dufek Massif in the Pensacola Mountains - was ever designated. The Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty agreed in 1991 attempted to rationalize the protected area system by merging all the SSSI, SPA and SRA sites into a single system called Antarctic Specially Protected Areas (ASPAs) and redefined its scope to allow outstanding geological and geomorphological areas to be considered. This opened the way for earth scientists to propose geological sites for protection, such as important fossil sites for example, but there was concern that this approach might attract attention to important sites and result in increased damage and souveniring from tourism. Even so, geological heritage (or ?geo-heritage?) remained almost completely outside the formal protected area system. With both tourism and researcher numbers increasing it was noticed that Antarctic fossils were being offered for sale indicating that potentially priceless material might be being pilfered from important Antarctic sites. There was also an increasing threat to the continent?s geological values from ...