Abstract
SUMMARYThe prohibition of commercial mineral resource extraction through the Antarctic Treaty System has removed one significant source of potential damage to Antarctica's geological and geomorphological values. However, given the on-going increase in Antarctic tourism and scientific footprint, some high-quality geological features may be vulnerable to human impact, such as damage due to the construction of logistical facilities, unregulated collection of geological specimens or oversampling for scientific purposes. The Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty puts in place a framework for the protection of Antarctica's environmental, scientific, historic, wilderness and aesthetic values. However, the Antarctic Protected Area system is still immature and further implementation of existing management tools may be required to protect the diverse range of vulnerabilities, qualities and spatial scales represented in the geology and geomorphology of the continent. At sites where high-quality mineralogical or palaeontological specimens exist in limited quantities, considerations of how best to prevent oversampling and manage access to remaining material may be supported by assessment of cumulative impacts. Examination of the level of Antarctic specimen loans from a selection of national geological collections suggested that existing publically accessible geological collections could be better utilized, which could reduce environmental impact and oversampling at vulnerable Antarctic sites.
Highlights
Antarctica’s geodiversity is of fundamental importance to the environmental, scientific, wilderness and aesthetic values of Outside the Antarctic Treaty area, geological and geomorphological values can be protected under national legislation, often within parks or reserves, or their values may be recognized globally, for example, by designation as World Heritage Sites by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), of which many examples exist around the world (Dingwall et al 2005; Burek & Prosser 2008)
Geotourism is becoming more formally acknowledged as economically important in many parts of the world and UNESCO has emphasized the importance of geoconservation and geodiversity through the Global Geoparks Network, which it officially recognized in December 2015
The objectives of this review are to (i) set out the existing legal framework for protection of geodiversity in Antarctica; (ii) describe the threats to Antarctic geological and geomorphological values and how they may benefit from protection; (iii) discuss legal and management issues regarding the practical delivery of Antarctic geoconservation; (iv) examine the level of use by scientists of Antarctic rock, fossil, mineral and meteorite specimens in existing geological collections; and (v) make some initial recommendations on Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core
Summary
The prohibition of commercial mineral resource extraction through the Antarctic Treaty System has removed one significant source of potential damage to Antarctica’s geological and geomorphological values. Given the on-going increase in Antarctic tourism and scientific footprint, some high-quality geological features may be vulnerable to human impact, such as damage due to the construction of logistical facilities, unregulated collection of geological specimens or oversampling for scientific purposes. The Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty puts in place a framework for the protection of Antarctica’s environmental, scientific, historic, wilderness and aesthetic values. The Antarctic Protected Area system is still immature and further implementation of existing management tools may be required to protect the diverse range of vulnerabilities, qualities and spatial scales represented in the geology and geomorphology of the continent.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.