Antarctica - UNIT 4 Case Studies

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  • Antarctica (good management)
    • Sources
      • www.coolantarctica.co.ukand Frozen Planet - David Attenborough
    • Location/type of tourism
      • South polar location in Earth's southern hemisphere
        • Ecotourism
          • No permanent residents but up to 1,000 people find themselves in various research stations
          • Steady increase of tourism over past 20 years
    • + impacts of tourism
      • No conclusive evidence that tourism so far has disturbed breeding patterns of wildlife
      • Tourists learn about marine biology, threats and may become ambassadors for the area
    • - impacts of tourism
      • Eco-system is very fragile, too many people will disrupt the balance it has plus it could take many years to recover
      • If larger ships come to the area, tourist numbers could get out of control
      • Threat of pollution e.g. oil spills from cruise ships e.g. like in 2007
      • Impact of breeding birds - more anxious by influx of people may cause them to abandon nests and vacate to another area
    • Management
      • Tour operators have voluntary codes of conduct including not being allowed to go within 5m of wildlife
      • 2009, IMO (International Maritime Organisation)banned use and carriage of heavy and intermediate fuels for all shipping to the Treaty area
      • Antarctica Treaty is signed by 50 countries and sets rules to manage tourism
      • In 1994, the Convention of the Conservation of Antarctic marine life resources was put together via the Madrid Protocol = no fishing is permitted in the Southern Oceans
      • Under the terms of the Antarctica Act 1994, all UK visitors to the area are required to have a permit  from the UK Government (FCO) or authorisation from another Contracting Party
    • Management successfulness
      • Successful
        • Affected large cruise ships which carried 500+ passengers = tourist numbers fell in 2006-2007
      • Unsuccessful
        • 28 countries make up the Antarctica Treaty Consultative Committee who made 27 non-binding recommendations on tourism since 1966 = neither of these is yet in force
        • Antarctica's New Zealand's environment manager, Neil Gilbert, said 'more robust monitoring is needed to track impacts of tourism'
      • As no-one lives there, their balance of management is made easier as they only have to protect the environment
        • They don't need to make residents happy, plus there is no need to make sure they are earning enough money due to this

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