Twenty years of protection of wilderness values in Antarctica

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty (the Madrid Protocol) came into force in 1998 and mandates protection for the wilderness values of Antarctica. Based on the limited data that are publicly available, we made lower bound estimates of the long-term and transient human footprints on terrestrial Antarctica for the period 2016–2018. We found that there has been an 11% increase in the number of research stations and a cumulative three-fold increase in the number of tourist landing sites since 1998. Both long-term and transient human footprints extend across the continent’s interior. The pace of implementation of the Madrid Protocol’s requirement to protect wilderness values lags far behind that of the expansion of the human footprint. Research on definitions and methods of identifying wilderness has progressed, however, and offers effective tools to aid with Protocol implementation.A review of documents from the website of the Secretariat of the Antarctic Treaty from the last 20 years indicates that Treaty Parties have considered the protection of wilderness values in environmental impact assessments, designation of protected areas, and discussions at Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meetings and meetings of the Committee for Environmental Protection. While there has been progress in providing guidance on wilderness values in non-binding guidelines, Treaty Parties’ engagement in the protection of wilderness values remains low.