Antarctic marine park plan fails again – for the eighth time

SYDNEY: A multinational effort to create giant marine sanctuaries around Antarctica to counter climate change and protect fragile ocean ecosystems has failed for an eighth straight year, officials said.

Opposition from China and Russia torpedoed the proposal at the annual meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), a consortium of 25 nations plus the European Union, said sources familiar with the closed-door discussions yesterday.

Beijing and Moscow have been key in blocking the scheme since it was first floated by Australia, France and the EU in 2010 before being scaled down in 2017 in an attempt to win greater support.

The meeting in Hobart, Australia which ended late Friday, considered proposals to create conservation parks in three key areas off Antarctica covering a total of some three million square kilometres.

The series of proposed marine protected areas would protect that marine life and crucially allow migration between areas for breeding and foraging.

CCAMLR yesterday said only that proposals for the three marine parks had been “the subject of much discussion” but had failed to gain the required consensus of all members and would be considered again at next year’s meeting.

Sources in touch with delegates at the weeklong talks said China and Russia continued to oppose the parks’ creation due to concerns over compliance issues and fishing rights.

Backers of the proposal had hoped that new data highlighting the negative impact of climate change on the region’s fragile ecosystem would have finally convinced doubters to back the marine parks.

“With a growing loss of biodiversity and threats from climate change, it’s disheartening that CCAMLR has failed to protect East Antarctic waters for the eighth consecutive year,” said Andrea Kavanagh, director of Antarctic and Southern Ocean work at The Pew Charitable Trusts.