State of the Environment 2011 (SoE 2011)
State of the Environment 2011 Committee. Australia state of the environment 2011.
Independent report to
the Australian Government Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities.
Canberra: DSEWPaC, 2011.
7 Antarctic environment
4 Effectiveness of Antarctic management
At a glance
Antarctic management is of international concern and is primarily regulated through the Antarctic Treaty and the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources. Australia is committed to protecting the values of Antarctica and adhering to all environmental protection measures through the Antarctic Treaty System, and leads efforts in the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources. Australia develops, implements and manages practical ways to minimise the effects of our Antarctic activities; for example, by restoring past worksites and cleaning up historical waste sites. Australia also plays a significant role in combating illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing in the Southern Ocean.
Research ensures that management of activities in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean is based on sound scientific principles and the best available scientific knowledge. Australia's research contributes to understanding how environmental systems function and how global climate change affects the Antarctic environment.
While climate change cannot be mitigated through the management of activities in Antarctica, Australian research is helping to inform strategies to maximise the resilience of the Antarctic environment and ecosystems.
Continually improving the environmental management of Australia’s activities and encouraging other states active in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean to do likewise is one of Australia's key Antarctic management priorities.
There are four main types of human activities in the Antarctic region: fisheries, national Antarctic programs, commercial tourism and other nongovernmental activities, such as private expeditions. The Australian Antarctic Division administers Australia’s national Antarctic program, which focuses mainly on the East Antarctic region of the continent but also Australia's subantarctic islands and the Southern Ocean. Other countries, for example China, India, Japan, Norway and Russia, also operate in East Antarctica, including within the AAT. Tourism, including by Australian tour operators, occurs mostly in the Antarctic Peninsula region away from the Australian national Antarctic program’s main areas of interest.
The Antarctic region and the Southern Ocean are remote from the Australian administrative head office so that management is effectively by ‘remote control’. This poses some unique challenges for Antarctic management and emphasises the importance of an effective environmental management regime.
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