Antarctica is under threat from the growing number of summer tourists arriving to practise adventure sports, look at the wildlife and follow in the footsteps of Scott, Shackleton and other explorers, according to some environmentalists.
With the number of tourists doubling every three to four years — 17 000 arrived last summer — some members of the Antarctica Treaty System meeting in Madrid this week want their number legally curbed to avoid an ecological disaster.
Some of the tourist vessels sailing between the ice flows have more than 1 000 berths and no special ice-strengthening, and there is concern that they would be unable to cope with a Titanic-style encounter with one of the icebergs that occasionally calf off the edge of the ice sheet
An oil spillage from a tourist vessel could ”make a hell of a mess” in frozen waters, where oil has great difficulty breaking up, according to Trevor Hughes of the New Zealand delegation to the conference.
”One of the key areas is safety, as there is no Antarctic code of shipping. The idea of vessels that are full of heavy bunker oil navigating in these waters is a worry,” he said.
”In terms of numbers, tourism is by far the main human activity in Antarctica these days. There were 17 000 visitors last summer and there will be 22 000 this summer. That compares to 5 000 in the early 1990s.”
Some of the countries with scientific bases on the continent are beginning to offer accommodation to tourists. Chile has already housed some of these part-time explorers at its base and Russia has been in talks with South African tour operators.
But even the relatively few scientists and explorers who have been the main human occupants of Antarctica for the past 50 years have left behind piles of debris.
When Adelie penguin chicks covered in oil were found near Cape Hallett two years ago the pollution was traced to a US science station abandoned in 1973.
A New Zealand government report revealed that although the area around it looked superficially pristine the sea floor was littered with raw sewage, wrecked vehicles and beer cans.
A trail of underwater rubbish, the beer cans outnumbering sponge species in some places, stretched for four miles, and the area was contaminated with heavy metals and oil.
Fifteen vehicles, 26 shipping containers and 603 metal drums were reported among more than 1 000 objects scattered over 20 hectares.
New Zealand and Australia are pressing the 47 countries which jointly administer Antarctica, including Britain, to introduce strict rules for tour operators and oblige them to pay for cleaning up after accidents.
There are also proposals for the number of tourists to be capped.
”We believe that overall limits do need to be considered, though that may be a bit more of a difficult discussion. There are economic interests involved,” Hughes explained.
Britain, one of the seven countries with territorial claims in the continent, says there is no evidence that tourism, particularly ship-borne, is having a damaging impact, but its delegation is circulating a paper suggesting that treaty members should adopt the guidelines of tour operators.
The International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators, which is well connected in Britain, has an extensive list of rules for its members which are designed to prevent environmental damage, but theyare not legally enforceable and not all companies sailing to the region belong to the association.
”Our sense is that it is time now that the treaty parties acknowledged responsibility. This can’t be left to the shoulders of industry alone,” said Hughes.
Britain’s view is that tough self-regulation is better than no regulation.
It points out that new legislation annexed to the treaty could take 10 years to come into effect, while self-regulation can be introduced imme diately. But it is opposed to capping the number of visitors, according to a member of its delegation.
Treaty decisions are made by the 27 voting states, including Britain. The conferences closes at the end of this week. – Guardian Unlimited Â