Conservation values, research and New Zealand's responsibilities for the Southern Ocean Islands and Antarctica

1995 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Euan C. Young
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Alien Species ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Ecological Research ◽  
Subantarctic Islands ◽  
Continental Antarctica ◽  
Conservation Values ◽  
Antarctic Treaty ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
The Impact

New Zealand has direct responsibility for the conservation and protection of five subantarctic island groups (Snares, Bounty, Antipodes, Auckland and Campbell), all of which are protected within National reserves. New Zealand also claims the Ross Dependency in Antarctica sharing conservation responsibility with others within the Antarctic Treaty regime. The subantarctic islands' ecosystems are of interest for their range of species, for their dependence on marine nutrients, for their vulnerability to introduction by alien species, and for illustrating the outcomes of independent evolutionary experiments. Each is characterized by a unique assemblage of plant and animal species, of which the diversity of oceanic birds (especially their albatrosses, petrels and penguins) and of the changes with latitude of their vegetation cover is internationally regarded. They form an interesting contrast to the sparse biota of the Balleny Islands and continental Antarctica. The fauna and flora on these subantarctic islands are now substantially catalogued and the impact of alien species in part understood, but ecological studies have been hampered by isolation and difficult access. Ecological research is needed to ensure that management strategies for each island are well founded on an understanding of their individual ecosystems. By way of contrast, ecological research has flourished in Antarctica with many long-term programmes. This difference is attributed to the way research is promoted and supported in the two regions.

The Déjà vu System of International Trusteeship in Continental Antarctica: A Textual Analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 108-131
Author(s):  
Xueping Li
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Protected Areas ◽  
Environmental Protection ◽  
Textual Analysis ◽  
Intrinsic Values ◽  
Continental Antarctica ◽  
Antarctic Treaty ◽  
Deja Vu ◽  
Déjà Vu ◽  
The Antarctic

In the name of environmental protection, the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting seems to have borrowed the paradigm of international trusteeship of the United Nations for managing the Antarctic land-based protected areas. By comparing and analysing the critical questions highly concerned, this paper offers preliminary thoughts on the development and refinement of the conception of land-based protected areas as a déjà vu system of international trusteeship and its surrounding legal applications and implications in continental Antarctica, and challenges the direction followed by this system in protecting Antarctic intrinsic values in legal discourse.

Convention on the Regulation of Antarctic Mineral Resource Activities: a major addition to the Antarctic Treaty System

Polar Record ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 25 (152) ◽  
pp. 19-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter J. Beck
Keyword(s):  
Mineral Resource ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Future Development ◽  
Political Development ◽  
Significant Development ◽  
Antarctic Treaty ◽  
Key Terms ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
Antarctic Environment ◽  
Antarctic Treaty System

AbstractIn June 1988, at the final session of the Fourth Special Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting in Wellington, New Zealand, the Convention on the Regulation of Antarctic Mineral Resource Activities (CRAMRA) was adopted, bringing to a successful conclusion six years of negotiations. Christopher Beeby, chairman of the discussions, presented the convention as the most important political development affecting Antarctica since the 1959 treaty, especially as it established the ability of the Antarctic Treaty System to reach an internal accommodation even upon matters raising serious political, legal, environmental and other issues. There remain uncertainties regarding the future development of the Antarctic minerals question; for example, when will the minerals convention and the proposed institutional framework come into effect, will its ratification encourage mining, can the fragile Antarctic environment be adequately protected against mining, how will certain key terms and concepts be defined, and will the regime's operation bring latent tensions to the surface? It is also difficult to predict how other governments will react to the convention, in the light of recent UN resolutions on Antarctica. The convention is perceived within the Antarctic Treaty system as a significant development, but it will be some time before a considered evaluation of the Antarctic Minerals Regime can be conducted.

scholarly journals Agriculture and forestry impact assessment for tephra fall hazard: fragility function development and New Zealand scenario application

Volcanica ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 345-367
Author(s):  
Heather M. Craig ◽  
Thomas M. Wilson ◽  
Christina Magill ◽  
Carol Stewart ◽  
Alec J. Wild
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Fragility Functions ◽  
Chemical Toxicity ◽  
Loss Assessment ◽  
Tephra Fall ◽  
Fragility Function ◽  
The Impact

Developing approaches to assess the impact of tephra fall to agricultural and forestry systems is essential for informing effective disaster risk management strategies. Fragility functions are commonly used as the vulnerability model within a loss assessment framework and represent the relationship between a given hazard intensity measure (e.g., tephra thickness) and the probability of impacts occurring. Impacts are represented here using an impact state (IS), which categorises qualitative and quantitative statements into a numeric scale. This study presents IS schemes for pastoral, horticultural, and forestry systems, and a suite of fragility functions estimating the probability of each IS occurring for 13 sub-sectors. Temporal vulnerability is accounted for by a ‘seasonality coefficient,’ and a ‘chemical toxicity coefficient’ is included to incorporate the increased vulnerability of pastoral farming systems when tephra is high in fluoride. The fragility functions are then used to demonstrate a deterministic impact assessment with current New Zealand exposure.

Australian law in Antarctica

Polar Record ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 29 (170) ◽  
pp. 215-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuart Kaye ◽  
Donald R. Rothwell
Keyword(s):  
Exclusive Economic Zone ◽  
Foreign Nationals ◽  
Application Of Law ◽  
Antarctic Treaty ◽  
Economic Zone ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Antarctic Environment ◽  
Current Practices

ABSTRACTThis article examines the content and ramifications of an Australian Parliamentary Committee's Report into the application of Australian law in the Australian Antarctic Territory (AAT). The Report's main findings suggest that Australian law should be more vigorously applied in Antarctica, and that current practices with regard to the operation and enforcement of Australian law are perceived as damaging to Australian sovereignty. This is particularly the case in the context of the virtual non-application of law to all foreign nationals within the AAT, to an extent far beyond the categories of persons exempted by Article VIII of the Antarctic Treaty. The article also discusses the possible ramifications and difficulties of giving effect to the Report's findings. Particular stress is placed upon the impact of asserting a 200-nautical-mile fishing or exclusive economic zone in the waters off the AAT, as well as the logistic difficulties that may become apparent if Australian sovereignty is more actively asserted. In this context, brief consideration is given to the Report's recommendations relating to the Antarctic environment and tourism within the AAT.

scholarly journals Pleistocene glacial history of the New Zealand subantarctic islands

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 423-448 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eleanor Rainsley ◽  
Chris S. M. Turney ◽  
Nicholas R. Golledge ◽  
Janet M. Wilmshurst ◽  
Matt S. McGlone ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Southern Ocean ◽  
Flow Line ◽  
Subtropical Front ◽  
Ice Cap ◽  
Multidisciplinary Study ◽  
Field Evidence ◽  
Subantarctic Islands ◽  
Glacial Expansion ◽  
The Antarctic

Abstract. The New Zealand subantarctic islands of Auckland and Campbell, situated between the subtropical front and the Antarctic Convergence in the Pacific sector of the Southern Ocean, provide valuable terrestrial records from a globally important climatic region. Whilst the islands show clear evidence of past glaciation, the timing and mechanisms behind Pleistocene environmental and climate changes remain uncertain. Here we present a multidisciplinary study of the islands – including marine and terrestrial geomorphological surveys, extensive analyses of sedimentary sequences, a comprehensive dating programme, and glacier flow line modelling – to investigate multiple phases of glaciation across the islands. We find evidence that the Auckland Islands hosted a small ice cap 384 000 ± 26 000 years ago (384±26 ka), most likely during Marine Isotope Stage 10, a period when the subtropical front was reportedly north of its present-day latitude by several degrees, and consistent with hemispheric-wide glacial expansion. Flow line modelling constrained by field evidence suggests a more restricted glacial period prior to the LGM that formed substantial valley glaciers on the Campbell and Auckland Islands around 72–62 ka. Despite previous interpretations that suggest the maximum glacial extent occurred in the form of valley glaciation at the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM; ∼21 ka), our combined approach suggests minimal LGM glaciation across the New Zealand subantarctic islands and that no glaciers were present during the Antarctic Cold Reversal (ACR; ∼15–13 ka). Instead, modelling implies that despite a regional mean annual air temperature depression of ∼5 ∘C during the LGM, a combination of high seasonality and low precipitation left the islands incapable of sustaining significant glaciation. We suggest that northwards expansion of winter sea ice during the LGM and subsequent ACR led to precipitation starvation across the middle to high latitudes of the Southern Ocean, resulting in restricted glaciation of the subantarctic islands.

scholarly journals Pleistocene glacial history of the New Zealand subantarctic islands

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eleanor Rainsley ◽  
Chris S. M. Turney ◽  
Nicholas R. Golledge ◽  
Janet M. Wilmshurst ◽  
Matt S. McGlone ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Southern Ocean ◽  
Subtropical Front ◽  
Sedimentary Sequences ◽  
Ice Cap ◽  
Multidisciplinary Study ◽  
Field Evidence ◽  
Subantarctic Islands ◽  
Glacial Expansion ◽  
The Antarctic

Abstract. The New Zealand subantarctic islands of Auckland and Campbell, situated between the Subtropical Front and the Antarctic Convergence in the Pacific sector of the Southern Ocean, provide valuable terrestrial records from a globally-important climatic region. Whilst the islands show clear evidence of past glaciation, the timing and mechanisms behind Pleistocene environmental and climate changes remain uncertain. Here we present a multidisciplinary study of the islands – including marine and terrestrial geomorphological surveys, extensive analyses of sedimentary sequences, a comprehensive dating program, and glacier flowline modelling – to investigate multiple phases of glaciation across the islands. We find evidence that the Auckland Islands hosted a small ice cap at 384,000 ± 26,000 years ago (384 ± 26 ka), most likely during Marine Isotope Stage 10, a period when the Subtropical Front was pushed northwards by seven degrees, and consistent with hemispheric-wide glacial expansion. Despite previous interpretations that suggest the maximum glacial extent occurred in the form of valley glaciation at the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM; ~ 21 ka) age, our combined approach suggests minimal LGM glaciation across the New Zealand Subantarctic Islands, and that no glaciers were present during the Antarctic Cold Reversal (ACR; ~ 15–13 ka). Instead, our flowline modelling, constrained by field evidence, implies that despite a regional mean annual air temperature depression of ~ 5 °C during the LGM, a combination of high seasonality and low precipitation left the islands incapable of sustaining significant glaciation. We suggest that northwards expansion of winter sea ice during the LGM and subsequent ACR led to precipitation starvation across the mid to high latitudes of the Southern Ocean, resulting in restricted glaciation of the subantarctic islands.

The Consequences of the ICJ Decision in the Whaling Case for Antarctica and the Antarctic Treaty System

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 168-187
Author(s):  
Michael Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
International Convention ◽  
International Court ◽  
Legal Context ◽  
Treaty Body ◽  
The Icj ◽  
Antarctic Treaty ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
Antarctic Treaty System

This paper identifies parts of the International Court of Justice’s judgment in Whaling in the Antarctic (Australia v. Japan: New Zealand intervening) that might hold broader relevance beyond the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling, and explores what that might entail for the Antarctic Treaty System. There are four aspects explored. First, an analysis of the Court’s treatment of Japan’s challenge to jurisdiction that touched upon the relevance or otherwise of Antarctic sovereignty to the issues at hand in the case. Second, the Court’s drawing of important conclusions from the Whaling Convention’s status as an ‘evolving instrument’, in light of it having a treaty body with ongoing decision making responsibility will be discussed. Third, to what extent might the Court’s assessment of the concept of ‘science’ in a legal context find relevance in Antarctic obligations will be analysed. Finally, the success of the claim brought by Australia, and the manner in which the Court addressed the issues before it, and whether they bear any consequences for potential, future environmental cases, will be discussed.

An Overview of the Antarctic Treaty System and Applicable New Zealand Law

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-107
Author(s):  
Trevor Daya-Winterbottom
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Future Prospects ◽  
International Treaty ◽  
Look Back ◽  
The Future ◽  
Antarctic Treaty ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
Ross Dependency ◽  
Antarctic Treaty System

The Antarctic Treaty 1959 has now been in place for 60 years and is regarded by informed commentators as one of the most successful multi-party international treaty systems. This paper provides an opportunity to look back and take stock of previous success, and more importantly, an opportunity to assess the future prospects of the treaty system. New Zealand has played a key role in the Antarctic Treaty system and has had a long involvement with Antarctica since accepting the transfer of sovereignty over the Ross Dependency in 1923. This paper therefore focuses on the effectiveness of the Antarctic Treaty system through a New Zealand lens.

scholarly journals Uncovered Microbial Diversity in Antarctic Cryptoendolithic Communities Sampling Three Representative Locations of the Victoria Land

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 942 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Coleine ◽  
Nuttapon Pombubpa ◽  
Laura Zucconi ◽  
Silvano Onofri ◽  
Benedetta Turchetti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Microbial Diversity ◽  
Fungal Diversity ◽  
Rock Matrix ◽  
Remote Locations ◽  
Victoria Land ◽  
Continental Antarctica ◽  
Minimum Number ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
Different Altitudes

The endolithic niche represents an ultimate refuge to microorganisms in the Mars-like environment of the Antarctic desert. In an era of rapid global change and desertification, the interest in these border ecosystems is increasing due to speculation on how they maintain balance and functionality at the dry limits of life. To assure a reliable estimation of microbial diversity, proper sampling must be planned in order to avoid the necessity of re-sampling as reaching these remote locations is risky and requires tremendous logistical and economical efforts. In this study, we seek to determine the minimum number of samples for uncovering comprehensive bacterial and fungal diversity, comparing communities in strict vicinity to each other. We selected three different locations of the Victoria Land (Continental Antarctica) at different altitudes and showing sandstone outcrops of a diverse nature and origin—Battleship promontory (834 m above sea level (a.s.l.), Southern VL), Trio Nunatak (1,470 m a.s.l., Northern VL) and Mt New Zealand (3,100 m a.s.l., Northern VL). Overall, we found that a wider sampling would be required to capture the whole amplitude of microbial diversity, particularly in Northern VL. We concluded that the inhomogeneity of the rock matrix and the stronger environmental pressure at higher altitudes may force the communities to a higher local diversification.

Airborne tourism in the Antarctic

Polar Record ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 29 (169) ◽  
pp. 103-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles Swithinbank
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Traffic Control ◽  
South Shetland Islands ◽  
South Pole ◽  
The South ◽  
America South ◽  
Antarctic Treaty ◽  
Mount Erebus ◽  
Passenger Aircraft ◽  
The Antarctic

ABSTRACTThere are two classes of airborne tourism in Antarctica: overflights without landing, and fl ights including landing. The earliest overflight was in 1956, but there were no regular flights until 1977, when Qantas and Air New Zealand began overflights with wide-bodied aircraft. A crash on Mount Erebus in 1979 that killed 257 people drew attention to the absence of effective planning, air traffic control, and rescue services. Landings began in the South Shetland Islands in 1982, when C-130 aircraft of Fuerza Aerea de Chile brought passengers from Punta Arenas. Since 1983, tourists have been accommodated in a Chilean government hostel. Flights to the interior began in 1984 when climbers were taken to the Sentinel Range by ski-equipped aircraft. Unmodified transport aircraft have been used since 1987, making wheel landings on naturally occurring bare ice in the Heritage Range. Tourists were taken from this site to the South Pole in 1988 by smaller, ski-equipped aircraft. Owing to the lack of conventional airfields in Antarctica, the future of intercontinental operations may depend on the development of additional airfields on bare ice. There are many possible sites. Most are near the periphery of the continent but some are in high latitudes, one only 300 km from the South Pole. A few of these will allow direct flights of unmodified passenger aircraft from South America, South Africa, Australia, or New Zealand. The possibility of 300 day-trippers stepping onto the ice from a Boeing 747 raises a variety of safety and environmental concerns. The challenge to the Antarctic Treaty System will be to reconcile the interests of governments, scientists, airlines, tour operators, tourists, and environmentalists.

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