Hopes for a vast new marine sanctuary in pristine East Antarctica were dashed Saturday after a key conservation summit failed to reach agreement, with advocates urging "greater vision and ambition". Expectations were high ahead of the annual meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) - a treaty tasked with overseeing protection and sustainable exploitation of the Southern Ocean.
Last year's summit in Hobart saw the establishment of a massive US and New Zealand-backed marine protected area (MPA) around the Ross Sea covering an area roughly the size of Britain, Germany and France combined. But an Australia and France-led push this year to create a second protected area in East Antarctica spanning another one million square kilometre zone failed.
Officials told AFP that Russia and China were key stumbling blocks, worried about compliance issues and fishing rights. Consensus is needed from all 24 CCAMLR member countries and the European Union. Greenpeace called for "greater vision and ambition" in the coming year while WWF's Antarctic program chief Chris Johnson said it was another missed opportunity.
"We let differences get in the way of responding to the needs of fragile wildlife," he said. Australia's chief delegate Gillian Slocum described the failure as "sad". She also bemoaned little progress on addressing the impacts of climate change which was having a "tangible effect" on the frozen continent.
"While CCAMLR was not able to adopt a Climate Change Response Work Program this year, members will continue to work together ahead of the next meeting to better incorporate climate change impacts into the commission's decision-making process," she said. Plans were set out in 2009 to establish a series of MPAs in the Southern Ocean allowing marine life to migrate between areas for breeding and foraging, but it has been slow going.
Antarctica is home to penguins, seals, toothfish, whales and huge numbers of krill, a staple food for many species. They are considered critical for scientists to study how marine ecosystems function and to understand the impacts of climate change on the ocean.