Desarrollo de la Antártica

Brian Roberts ! INTERNATlOl'iAL COOPERATlON FOR ANTARCTIC, •• conservation organizatiO'ns, wish to advocate special aspects. AH of these have contríbuted to understandings (and also sorne conspicuous misunderstandings) of the special problems. Anyone who seriously considers thc íuture of the Antarctic Treaty Area must take intO' account !:he emergent lhopes and wishes now finding expressíon in many natiom which are not themselves active in the Antarctic. Tlhere is a widespread belief rhat thís very large regíon possesses immensely rich resources which are, or should be, part oí the common heritage of mankind. Sorne who are present on this occasion will have been íollowing the relevant proceedings of tihe United Nations Economic a~d Social Council (ECOSOC), t:be United Nations Environment IP'rogramme (U.NEP), the UnÍted Nations [)evelopment Programme (UNDP), and the United Nations Law of the Sea Conference (UN Lose) . 1 must also mentíon the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) , the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) , the Food and Agriculture Organizatíon (FAO) , and the Imernational Whaling Commissíon (lwe). The Treaty nations have a long and Ipainful way to go in explaining Antarctic realities to the r(.5t O'f the world. This is another matter to which 1 will return latero Sixth. The conservation of living resources, During the periad since the Antarctíc Treaty came into force, a rather complicated network of voluntary regulations h'lS been introduced. The general aim !has been separate but harmonizcd legislation by each country. AH these separate instruments razy seem highly complieated, but let us remember that they are achieving the needed results in a situation which !has no precedent. The 'Agreed IMeasures for the Conservation of AntarctÍc Fauna and Flora', first formally recommended to governments in 1964, have subsequently been rhe subject of substantial improvements in the light of experience. These arrangements have been widely aeclai" med as one of the most comprehensive and successful international instruments for wild life conservation on land that has yet been negotiated. lt is oí spedal interest that these agreed measures and subsequent amendments have been working exceptionally well despite the faet that none of them are yet b force. None of these arrange" ments become legally binding on any of the governments until they have been approved unanímously by aH the signatories of rhe Treaty. The legal diHieulties are such that prolonged delays are inevita– ble in hringing any Antaretic agl'eements into eHeet. However, a 339