Measures Approved or Recommended Under Article IX in Furtherance of Principles and Objectives of the Antarctic Treaty, Wellington, 1972 Adopted at Wellington 10 November 1972

Recommendations VII-1 through VII-3 and VII-6 through VII-8 effective 29 May 1975; Recommendations VII-4 and VII-9 effective 24 June 1981; Recommendation VII-5 effective 10 February 1988

Primary source citation: 28 UST 1138, TIAS 8500

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[CERTAIN RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE SEVENTH ANTARCTIC TREATY CONSULTATIVE MEETING]

RECOMMENDATION VII-1 Man's Impact on the Antarctic Environment

The Representatives,

Recalling Recommendations III-VIII and VI-4;

Noting the information provided by the Consultative Parties about the implementation of the Agreed Measures on the Conservation of Antarctic Fauna and Flora;

Considering that there is a need to strengthen the protection of the Antarctic environment;

Recommend to their Governments that:

1.

They take note of the responses by SCAR to paragraph 1 of Recommendation VI-4 and that they discuss these responses in detail at the Eighth Consultative Meeting;

2.

They consider adopting as far as feasible and practicable, and subject to other international arrangements and advice, these responses of SCAR as voluntary guidelines for the conduct of their expeditions and stations;

3.

They encourage SCAR, through their national committees, to continue its interest in this matter.

RECOMMENDATION VII-2 Review of Specially Protected Areas

The Representatives,

Recalling:

(1)

that the purpose of Specially Protected Areas is to preserve, in accordance with the Agreed Measures for the Conservation of Antarctic Fauna and Flora, the natural ecological systems of areas of outstanding scientific interest;

(2)

that Recommendation VI-8 has notably increased the protection afforded to Specially Protected Areas by prohibiting entry into them except in accordance with a permit;

Recognising that the existing Specially Protected Areas were designated under less strict provisions regarding entry;

Conscious of the need to review the existing Specially Protected Areas in the light of experience and the increased degree of protection they have been afforded;

Recalling Recommendation III-X which encouraged SCAR to continue its interest in and prepare reports from time to time on the conservation of Antarctic fauna and flora;

Noting the opinion of SCAR, expressed in the report produced at its Twelfth Meeting on the ‘Purposes and Designation of Special Areas’, that the existing Specially Protected Areas are not fully representative of the major Antarctic land and freshwater ecological systems and that some of these ecological systems are overrepresented in the series so far designated;

Recommend to their Governments that:

1.

In due course they include in the series of Specially Protected Areas listed in Annex A of the Agreed Measures for the Conservation of Antarctic Fauna and Flora:

(a)

representative examples of the major Antarctic land and freshwater ecological systems;

(b)

areas with unique complexes of species;

(c)

areas which are the type locality or only known habitat of any plant or invertebrate species;

(d)

areas which contain specially interesting breeding colonies of birds or mammals;

(e)

areas which should be kept inviolate so that in the future they may be used for purposes of comparison with localities that have been disturbed by man;

2.

They invite SCAR, through their National Committees, to review in the light of the criteria set out in paragraph 1 the existing Specially Protected Areas, and to make recommendations about:

(a)

the desirability of retaining each Area;

(b)

the desirability of redefining the limits of each Area retained;

(c)

creating such additional Areas as may be considered desirable;

3.

The number of Specially Protected Areas should be kept to the minimum that will meet the criteria set out in paragraph 1;

4.

The size of each Specially Protected Area should be the minimum required to serve the purpose for which the Area has been designated.

RECOMMENDATION VII-3 Sites of Special Scientific Interest

The Representatives,

Recognising that:

(1) Scientific investigations may be jeopardised by accidental or wilful interference;

(2) sites where such investigations are proceeding may require a measure of protection;

(3) because of the continuing scientific investigations in them, certain localities of botanical or zoological interest are not suitable for designation as Specially Protected Areas under the Agreed Measures for the Conservation of Antarctic Fauna and Flora;

(4) sites of non-biological interest cannot be designated as Specially Protected Areas;

Considering that the application of individual management plans regulating access and use for a specified period to such sites, which might be called Sites of Special Scientific Interest, would enable investigations at these sites to be carried out without interference;

Recommend to their Governments that:

1. They invite SCAR, through their National Committees, to consider this matter further and make suggestions for the designation of Sites of Special Scientific Interest (together with a proposed management plan for each site);

2. They study the subject further with a view to its inclusion on the Agenda of the Eighth Consultative Meeting.

RECOMMENDATION VII-6 Antarctic Resources--Effects of Mineral Exploration

The Representatives,

Recalling the provisions and principles of the Antarctic Treaty;

Reaffirming that it is in the interest of all mankind that the Antarctic Treaty Area shall continue forever to be used exclusively for peaceful purposes and shall not become the scene or object of international discord;

Acknowledging that the Antarctic Treaty places a special responsibility upon the Contracting Parties to exert appropriate efforts, consistent with the Charter of the United Nations, to the end that no one engages in any activity in the Antarctic Treaty Area contrary to the principles or purposes of the Treaty;

Noting the technological developments in polar mineral exploration and the increasing interest in the possibility of there being exploitable minerals in the Antarctic Treaty Area;

Noting that there is a need for further study and deliberation amongst the Consultative Parties;

Recognising that mineral exploration is likely to raise problems of an environmental nature and that the Consultative Parties should assume responsibility for the protection of the environment and the wise use of resources;

Conscious of the special situation in the Antarctic arising from the particular regime of the Antarctic Treaty and the Recommendations adopted under it;

Recommend to their Governments that the subject ‘Antarctic ResourcesEffects of Mineral Exploration’ be carefully studied and included on the Agenda of the Eighth Consultative Meeting.

RECOMMENDATION VII-7 Antarctic Telecommunications

The Representatives,

Considering the contribution to the study of Antarctic radio propagation and the ionosphere made at the SCAR Symposium on ‘Scientific and Technical Problems Affecting Antarctic Telecommunications’ held in Sandefjord, Norway, in May 1972 and the Interim Report of the SCAR Group of Specialists (Revised 25 August 1972);

Recognising the need for improving, as far as practicable, the transmission of information between stations within the Antarctic Treaty Area and between those stations and the rest of the world;

Bearing in mind that difficulties may arise in Antarctic communications if new methods of transmission are accepted by Consultative Parties without due regard to the principle of compatibility both between new systems and between new and existing systems;

Recommend to their Governments that:

1. Their offices administering Antarctic programmes take into account the information presented at the SCAR Symposium when considering new means of improving Antarctic communications; techniques discussed at the Symposium and brought to the attention of Representatives by SCAR and others included communications satellites, VHF low power scatter systems, oblique ionospheric sounding, coding and error correcting devices and the wider use of ionospheric prediction services, especially with regard to short-term advice on impending disturbances;

2. Their offices administering Antarctic programmes be encouraged to exchange information about changes contemplated in types of equipment or methods in order to improve, where practicable, compatibility between Antarctic networks.

RECOMMENDATION VII-8 Co-operation in Transport

The Representatives,

Recognising that the relative inaccessibility of many regions of the Antarctic Treaty Area creates special transport problems;

Acknowledging the benefits to be derived from international cooperation in scientific investigations in that Area;

Recommend to their Government that:

1. They accept the principle of using, where appropriate, common transport facilities by sea and by air for scientific and other personnel proceeding with their equipment to and from Antarctic stations;

2. They encourage bilateral or multilateral consultations between Contracting Parties in order to establish when arrangements for such common use of transport facilities would be mutually convenient and practicable;

3. The cost of the use of any common transport facilities should be arranged by agreement between the Contracting Parties concerned, either by direct payment, by reciprocation in kind, or by other mutually agreed means.

[APPENDIX]

RECOMMENDATION VII-4 Effects of Tourists and Non-Governmental Expeditions in the Antarctic Treaty Area

The Representatives,

Noting the increase in the Antarctic Treaty Area in the number of visitors who are not sponsored by Consultative Parties;

Considering that both Governments and such visitors would benefit from having available to them an agreed statement:

(a) of accepted practices in the Treaty Area including, inter alia, the need for self sufficiency and prior notification of intended arrival at a station, which such visitors would be expected to follow (to which could be appended the particular conditions imposed by each government for a visit to any one of its stations); and

(b) of the relevant provisions of the Antarctic Treaty and of the Recommendations made under it;

Recalling Recommendations VI-7 and VI-11 concerning the possible harmful effects of such visitors on scientific programmes and on the Antarctic environment;

Convinced of the need to avoid unnecessary interference with natural ecological systems which are not sufficiently understood and continue to be the subject of research;

Conscious that the Treaty Area contains many unique features of historical, scenic and general scientific interest;

Recommend to their Governments that:

1. They keep under review, in the light of existing Recommendations, the effects in the Treaty Area of tourists and other visitors who are not sponsored by Consultative Parties;

2. They consider drawing up at the Eighth Consultative Meeting a statement of those accepted practices and relevant provisions about which all visitors to the Treaty Area should be aware;

3.

They consult each other well in advance about the possibility of designating at the Eighth Consultative Meeting an adequate number of areas of interest to which tourists could be encouraged to go, and about the criteria to be used to determine such areas;

4. They use their best efforts to ensure that the provisions of the Treaty and subsequent Recommendations relating to the conservation of fauna and flora are applied in practice to all visitors who are not sponsored by Consultative Parties, as well as to tourists.

RECOMMENDATION VII-5 Importation of Laboratory Animals and Plants

The Representatives,

Considering:

(1) that harmful interference with the natural ecological system may be caused by micro-organisms introduced by man for experimental purposes;

(2) Article IX of the Agreed Measures for the Conservation of Antarctic Fauna and Flora;

Recommend to their Governments that the following be added to the end of paragraph (c) of Annex C, Importation of Animals and Plants, of the Agreed Measures for the Conservation of Antarctic Fauna and Flora:

‘including viruses, bacteria, yeasts and fungi’.

RECOMMENDATION VII-9 Historic Monuments

The Representatives,

Recalling Recommendations I-IX, V-4 and VI-14;

Recommend to their Governments that they approve the annexed ‘List of Historic Monuments Identified and Described by the Proposing Government or Governments’.

ANNEX TO RECOMMENDATION VII-9

List of Historic Monuments Identified and Described by the Proposing Government or Governments

*( The Consultative Meeting does not approve or disapprove the place names appearing in the texts of this List in the different languages. )*

1 Flag mast erected in December 1965 at the South Geographical Pole by the First Argentine Overland Polar Expedition.

2

Rock cairn and plaques at Syowa Station (Lat. 69°00° S., Long. 39°35° E.) in memory of Shin Fukushima, a member of the 4th Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition, who died in October 1960 while performing official duties. The cairn was erected on 11 January 1961 by his colleagues. Some of his ashes repose in the cairn.

3 Rock cairn and plaque on Proclamation Island, Enderby Land, erected in January 1930 by Sir Douglas Mawson. (Lat. 65°51° S., Long. 53°41° E.) The cairn and plaque commemorate the landing on Proclamation Island of Sir Douglas Mawson with a party from the British, Australian and New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition of 1929-31. 4 Station building to which a bust of V. I. Lenin is fixed, together with a plaque in memory of the conquest of the Pole of Inaccessibility by Soviet Antarctic explorers in 1958. (Lat. 83°06° S., Long. 54°58° E.)

5 Rock cairn and plaque at Cape Bruce, Mac. Robertson Land, erected in February 1931 by Sir Douglas Mawson. (Lat. 67°25° S., Long. 60°47° E.) The cairn and plaque commemorate the landing on Cape Bruce of Sir Douglas Mawson with a party from the British, Australian and New Zealand Antarctic Research Expedition of 1929-31. 6 Rock cairn at Walkabout Rocks, Vestfold Hills Princess, Elizabeth Land, erected in 1939 by Sir Hubert Wilkins. (Lat. 68°22° S., Long. 78°33° E.) The cairn houses a canister containing a record of his visit.

7 Stone with inscribed plaque, erected at Mirny Observatory, Mabus Point, in memory of driver-mechanic Ivan Khmara who perished on fast ice in the performance of official duties in 1956. (Lat. 66°33° S., Long. 93°01° E.)

8 Metal monument-sledge at Mirny Observatory, Mabus Point, with plaque in memory of driver-mechanic Anatoly Shcheglov who perished in the performance of official duties (Lat. 66°33° S., Long. 93°01° E.)

9 Cemetery on Buromskiy Island, near Mirny Observatory, in which are buried Soviet, Czechoslovakia and GDR citizens, members of Soviet Antarctic Expeditions, who perished in the performance of official duties on 3 August 1960. (Lat. 66°32° S., Long. 93°01° E.)

10 Building (magnetic observatory) at Dobrowolsky Station, Bunger Hills, with plaque in memory of the opening of Oasis Station in 1956. (Lat. 66°16° S., Long. 100°45° E.)

11 Heavy tractor at Vostok Station with plaque in memory of the opening of the Station in 1957. (Lat. 78°28° S., Long. 106°48° E.)

12 Cross and plaque at Cape Denison, George V Land, erected in 1913 by Sir Douglas Mawson on a hill situated 300 metres west by south from the main hut of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition of 1911-14. (Lat. 67°00° S., Long. 142°42° E.) The cross and plaque commemorate Lieutenant B. E. S. Ninnis and Dr. X. Mertz, members of the expedition, who died in 1913 while engaged in the work of the expedition.

13 Hut at Cape Denison, George V Land, built in January 1912 by Sir Douglas Mawson for the Australasian Antarctic Expedition of 1911-14. (Lat. 67°00° S., Long. 142°42° E.) This was the main base of the expedition.

14 Remains of rock shelter at Inexpressible Island, Terra Nova Bay, constructed in March 1912 by Victor Campbell's Northern Party, British Antarctic Expedition, 1910-13. (Lat. 74°54° S., Long. 163°43° E.) The party spent the winter of 1912 in this shelter and a nearby ice cave.

15 Hut at Cape Royds, Ross Island, built in February 1908 by Ernest Shackleton. (Lat. 77°38° S., Long. 166°07° E.) Restored in January 1961 by Antarctic Division of New Zealand Department of Scientific and Industrial Research.

16 Hut at Cape Evans, Ross Island, built in January 1911 by Captain Robert Falcon Scott. (Lat. 77°38° S., Long. 166°24° E.) Restored in January 1961 by Antarctic Division of New Zealand Department of Scientific and Industrial Research.

17 Cross on Wind Vane Hill, Cape Evans, Ross Island, erected by the Ross Sea Party of Ernest Shackleton's Trans-Antarctic Expedition, 1914-16, in memory of three members of the party who died in the vicinity in 1916. (Lat. 77°38° S., Long. 166°24° E.)

18 Hut at Hut Point, Ross Island, built in February 1902 by Captain Robert Falcon Scott. (Lat. 77°51° S., Long. 166°37° E.) Partially restored in January 1964 by the New Zealand Antarctic Society, with assistance from the United States Government.

19 Cross at Hut Point, Ross Island, erected in February 1904 by the British Antarctic Expedition, 1901-04, in memory of T. Vince, a member of that expedition who died in the vicinity. (Lat. 77°51° S., Long. 166°37° E.)

20 Cross on Observation Hill, Ross Island, erected in January 1913 by the British Antarctic Expedition, 1910-13, in memory of Captain Robert Falcon Scott's party which perished on the return journey from the South Pole, March 1912. (Lat. 77°51° S., Long. 166°40° E.)

21 Stone hut at Cape Crozier, Ross Island, constructed in July 1911 by Edward Wilson's party (British Antarctic Expedition, 1910-13) during the winter journey to collect Emperor penguin eggs. (Lat. 77°32° S., Long. 169°18° E.)

22 Hut at Cape Adare built in February 1899 during ‘Southern Cross’ Expedition led by C. E. Borchgrevink. (Lat. 71°17° S., Long. 170°15° E.) There are three huts at Cape Adare: two date from Borchgrevink's expedition, and one from Scott's Northern Party, 1910-11. Only the southernmost Borchgrevink hut survives in a reasonable state of repair.

23 Grave at Cape Adare of Norwegian biologist Nicolai Hanson, a member of C. E. Borchgrevink's ‘Southern Cross’ Expedition, 1899-1900. (Lat. 71°17° S., Long. 170°15° E.) This is the first known grave in the Antarctic.

24 Rock cairn, known as ‘Amundsen's Cairn’, on Mount Betty, Queen Maud Range (Lat. 85°11° S., Long. 163°45° W.) erected by Roald Amundsen on 6 January 1912 on his way back to ‘Framheim’ from the South Pole.

25 Hut and plaque on Peter I y, built by the Norwegian Captain Nils Larsen in February 1929 at Framnaesodden (Lat. 68°47° S., Long. 90°42° W.) The plaque is inscribed ‘Norvegia-ekspedisjonen 2/2 1929’.

26 Abandoned installations of Argentine Station ‘General San Martin’ on Barry Island, Debenham Islands, Marguerite Bay, with cross, flag mast, and monolith built in 1951. (Lat. 68°08° S., Long. 67°08° W.)

27 Cairn with plaque on Megalestris Hill, Petermann Island, erected in 1909 by the second French expedition led by J.-B. Charcot. (Lat. 65°10° S., Long. 64°10° W.) Restored by the British Antarctic Survey in 1958. 28 Rock cairn at Port Charcot, Booth Island, with wooden pillar and plaque inscribed with the names of the first French expedition led by J.-B. Charcot which wintered here in 1904 aboard ‘Le Francais’. (Lat. 65°03° S., Long. 64°01° W.)

29 Light-house named ‘Primero de Mayo’ erected on Lambda Island, Melchior Islands, by Argentina in 1942. (Lat. 64°18° S., Long. 62°59° W.) This was the first Argentine light-house in the Antarctic.

30 Shelter at Paradise Harbour erected in 1950 near the Chilean Base ‘Gabriel Gonzales Videla’ to honour Gabriel Gonzales Videla, the first Head of State to visit the Antarctic. (Lat. 64°49° S., Long. 62°51° W.)

31 Memorial plaque marking the position of a cemetery on Deception Island (Lat. 62°59° S., Long. 60°34° W.) where some 40 Norwegian whalers were buried in the first half of the twentieth century. The cemetery was swept away by a volcanic eruption in February 1969. 32 Concrete monolith erected in 1947, near Arturo Prat Base on Greenwich Island. Point of reference for Chilean Antarctic hydrographic work. (Lat. 62°29° S., Long. 59°40° W.)

33 Shelter and cross with plaque near Arturo Prat Base, Greenwich Island. (Lat. 62°30° S., Long 59°41° W.) Named in memory of Lieutenant-Commander Gonzalez Pacheco, who died tragically while in charge of the station in 1960. 34 Bust of the Chilean naval hero Arturo Prat erected in 1947 at the base of the same name on Greenwich Island. (Lat. 62°30° S., Long. 59°41° W.)

35 Wooden cross and statue of the Virgin of Carmen erected in 1947 near Arturo Prat Base on Greenwich Island. (Lat. 62°30° S., Long. 59°41° W.) There is also nearby a metal plaque of Lions International Club.

36 Metal plaque at Potter Cove, King George Island, erected by Eduard Dallmann to commemorate the visit of his German expedition on 1 March 1874. (Lat. 62°13° S., Long. 58°42° W.)

37 Statue of Bernardo O'Higgins, erected in 1948 in front of the station of the same name. (Lat. 63°19° S., Long. 57°54° W.) To honour the first ruler of Chile to envision the importance of Antarctica.

38 Hut on Snow Hill Island built in February 1902 by the main party of the Swedish South Polar Expedition, led by Otto Nordenskjold. (Lat. 64°24° S., Long. 57°00° W.)

39 Stone hut at Hope Bay built in January 1903 by a party of the Swedish South Polar Expedition. (Lat. 63°24° S., Long. 56°59° W.)

40 Bust of General San Martin, grotto with a statue of the Virgin of Lujan, and a flag mast at Base ‘Esperanza’, Hope Bay, erected by Argentina in 1955; together with a graveyard with stele in memory of members of Argentine expeditions who died in the area. (Lat. 63°24° S., Long. 56°59° W.)

41 Stone hut on Paulet Island built in February 1903 by C. A. Larsen, Norwegian captain of the wrecked vessel ‘Antarctic’ of the Swedish South Polar Expedition led by Otto Nordenskjold, together with the grave of a member of that expedition. (Lat. 63°35° S., Long. 55°47° W.)

42 Area at Scotia Bay, Laurie Island, South Orkney Islands, in which are found: stone hut built in 1903 by the Scottish Expedition led by W. S. Bruce; the Argentine Meteorological and Magnetic Observatory, built in 1905; and graveyard with seven tombs (dating from 1903). (Lat. 60°46° S., Long. 44°40° W.)

43 Cross erected in 1955, at a distance of 1300 metres northeast of the Argentine Base ‘General Belgrano’ at Piedrabuena Bay, Filchner Ice Shelf. (Lat. 77°49° S., Long. 38°02° W.)