Environmental monitoring and management proposals for the Fildes Region, King George Island, Antarctica
The Antarctic terrestrial environment is under increasing pressure from human activities. The Fildes Region is characterized by high biodiversity, but is also a major logistic centre for the northern Antarctic Peninsula. Different interests, from scientific research, nature conservation, protection...
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ftjpolarres:oai:journals.openacademia.net:article/2615 2024-06-23T07:47:10+00:00 Environmental monitoring and management proposals for the Fildes Region, King George Island, Antarctica Braun, Christina Mustafa, Osama Nordt, Anja Pfeiffer, Simone Peter, Hans-Ulrich 2012-05-18 application/pdf text/html application/epub+zip text/xml https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/2615 https://doi.org/10.3402/polar.v31i0.18206 eng eng Norwegian Polar Institute https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/2615/pdf_1 https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/2615/html https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/2615/5975 https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/2615/xml https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/2615 doi:10.3402/polar.v31i0.18206 Polar Research; Vol 31 (2012) 1751-8369 Human impact Antarctic Fildes Region environmental management Antarctic Specially Managed Area protected area info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion Peer-reviewed Article 2012 ftjpolarres https://doi.org/10.3402/polar.v31i0.18206 2024-06-13T23:33:00Z The Antarctic terrestrial environment is under increasing pressure from human activities. The Fildes Region is characterized by high biodiversity, but is also a major logistic centre for the northern Antarctic Peninsula. Different interests, from scientific research, nature conservation, protection of geological and historical values, station operations, transport logistics and tourism, regularly overlap in space and time. This has led to increasing conflict among the multiple uses of the region and breaches of the legal requirements for environmental protection that apply in the area. The aim of this study was to assess the impacts of human activities in the Fildes Region by monitoring the distribution of bird and seal breeding sites and recording human activities and their associated environmental impacts. Data from an initial monitoring period 200306 were compared with data from 200810. We observed similar or increased levels of air, land and ship traffic, but fewer violations of overflight limits near Antarctic Specially Protected Area No. 150 Ardley Island. Open waste dumping and oil contamination are still major environmental impacts. Scientific and outdoor leisure activities undertaken by station personnel are more frequent than tourist activities and are likely to have a commensurate level of environmental impact. Despite the initial success of some existing management measures, it is essential that scientific and environmental values continue to be safeguarded, otherwise environmental impacts will increase and the habitat will be further degraded. We argue that the Fildes Region should be considered for designation as an Antarctic Specially Managed Area, a measure that has proven effective for environmental management of vulnerable areas of the Antarctic.Keywords: human impact; Antarctic; Fildes Region; environmental management; Antarctic Specially Managed Area; protected area(Published: 18 May 2012)Citation: Polar Research 2012, 31, 18206, http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/polar.v31i0.18206 Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Antarctica Ardley Island King George Island Polar Research Polar Research Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Ardley ENVELOPE(-58.953,-58.953,-62.201,-62.201) Ardley Island ENVELOPE(-58.933,-58.933,-62.213,-62.213) Fildes ENVELOPE(-58.817,-58.817,-62.217,-62.217) King George Island The Antarctic Polar Research 31 1 18206 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Polar Research |
op_collection_id |
ftjpolarres |
language |
English |
topic |
Human impact Antarctic Fildes Region environmental management Antarctic Specially Managed Area protected area |
spellingShingle |
Human impact Antarctic Fildes Region environmental management Antarctic Specially Managed Area protected area Braun, Christina Mustafa, Osama Nordt, Anja Pfeiffer, Simone Peter, Hans-Ulrich Environmental monitoring and management proposals for the Fildes Region, King George Island, Antarctica |
topic_facet |
Human impact Antarctic Fildes Region environmental management Antarctic Specially Managed Area protected area |
description |
The Antarctic terrestrial environment is under increasing pressure from human activities. The Fildes Region is characterized by high biodiversity, but is also a major logistic centre for the northern Antarctic Peninsula. Different interests, from scientific research, nature conservation, protection of geological and historical values, station operations, transport logistics and tourism, regularly overlap in space and time. This has led to increasing conflict among the multiple uses of the region and breaches of the legal requirements for environmental protection that apply in the area. The aim of this study was to assess the impacts of human activities in the Fildes Region by monitoring the distribution of bird and seal breeding sites and recording human activities and their associated environmental impacts. Data from an initial monitoring period 200306 were compared with data from 200810. We observed similar or increased levels of air, land and ship traffic, but fewer violations of overflight limits near Antarctic Specially Protected Area No. 150 Ardley Island. Open waste dumping and oil contamination are still major environmental impacts. Scientific and outdoor leisure activities undertaken by station personnel are more frequent than tourist activities and are likely to have a commensurate level of environmental impact. Despite the initial success of some existing management measures, it is essential that scientific and environmental values continue to be safeguarded, otherwise environmental impacts will increase and the habitat will be further degraded. We argue that the Fildes Region should be considered for designation as an Antarctic Specially Managed Area, a measure that has proven effective for environmental management of vulnerable areas of the Antarctic.Keywords: human impact; Antarctic; Fildes Region; environmental management; Antarctic Specially Managed Area; protected area(Published: 18 May 2012)Citation: Polar Research 2012, 31, 18206, http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/polar.v31i0.18206 |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Braun, Christina Mustafa, Osama Nordt, Anja Pfeiffer, Simone Peter, Hans-Ulrich |
author_facet |
Braun, Christina Mustafa, Osama Nordt, Anja Pfeiffer, Simone Peter, Hans-Ulrich |
author_sort |
Braun, Christina |
title |
Environmental monitoring and management proposals for the Fildes Region, King George Island, Antarctica |
title_short |
Environmental monitoring and management proposals for the Fildes Region, King George Island, Antarctica |
title_full |
Environmental monitoring and management proposals for the Fildes Region, King George Island, Antarctica |
title_fullStr |
Environmental monitoring and management proposals for the Fildes Region, King George Island, Antarctica |
title_full_unstemmed |
Environmental monitoring and management proposals for the Fildes Region, King George Island, Antarctica |
title_sort |
environmental monitoring and management proposals for the fildes region, king george island, antarctica |
publisher |
Norwegian Polar Institute |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/2615 https://doi.org/10.3402/polar.v31i0.18206 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-58.953,-58.953,-62.201,-62.201) ENVELOPE(-58.933,-58.933,-62.213,-62.213) ENVELOPE(-58.817,-58.817,-62.217,-62.217) |
geographic |
Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Ardley Ardley Island Fildes King George Island The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Ardley Ardley Island Fildes King George Island The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Antarctica Ardley Island King George Island Polar Research |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctic Peninsula Antarctica Ardley Island King George Island Polar Research |
op_source |
Polar Research; Vol 31 (2012) 1751-8369 |
op_relation |
https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/2615/pdf_1 https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/2615/html https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/2615/5975 https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/2615/xml https://polarresearch.net/index.php/polar/article/view/2615 doi:10.3402/polar.v31i0.18206 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3402/polar.v31i0.18206 |
container_title |
Polar Research |
container_volume |
31 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
18206 |
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1802651263057264640 |