Desarrollo de la Antártica

Brían Roberts I INTERNATIONAL COOPERATTON FOR ANTARCTlC .•• IAntarctic and whether or not these are acceptable or desirable. T·hh means careful study and discussion before embarking upon new pro– jects which may result in possibly irreversible effects on rhe envio ronment. Man's increasing activities in the Antarctic have highlighted the urgent need for adequate conservation measures based on reliable sdentific information. In this, good progress has been made so far as land areas are concerned, but in a region where aH tlle food webs originate in the sea, pollution resulting from unregulated exploita– tion of minerals on the continental &helf or unregulated fisheries -especiaHy for bill- could easily upset the delicate ecological ba– lance. Assessment of man's impact on Antarctic wildlife, accompa– nied by internationalIy agreed élll enforced controls, is now one ot the important challenges for Antarctic biologists and administrators. Thurism and othe1' forms of recreatioro Tourism in the Antarctic has obviously come to stay with uso The number o( expeditions whose primary interest is mountaineering ar other kinds of adventure is also increasing. This is a type of activity which seems certain to grow and flourish in a part of the world which possesses sorne of tihe most beatiful and spectacular mountain scc– nery in the world. None, 1 believe, wants to stop this development, but many people are anxious about the possible results of ever– increasing numbers of visitors who can unknowingly destroy local ecological situatioTIS merely by their presence in large numbers or by the unintentional introduction oí alien species or even virus di· seases. The Consultative Parties to the Treaty are aware of these spedal problems and at their last meeting in .0510 (1975) initiated sorne preliminary measures to bring this under control. iIt has beeu agreed in principIe that the most urgent problem is to discover how many tourists are visiting specified areas each year. 'This is a useful exchange of informatíon, but difficult to chek or en(orce when sorne tourist ships belong to nations wlhich are not memben of the Treaty club. lIt has also heen agreed that, at this early stagc, efforts should be made to concentrate tourist landings in a schedu– led number o( 'Areas of Special Tourist Interest'. Only by this action will it ce possible to monitor and asses the effects o( tourist inva. sions on the local environment, and to decide later what controls may be essential. rControls of this kind need not destroy freedom and personal enjoyment o( a marvellous experience, but, they may well be essential to make this same experience possible for laler ge. 347