Enhancing the Environmental Legacy of the International Polar Year 2007-8

The International Polar Year 2007-8 (IPY) is a major international research initiative that will take place in the Arctic and the Antarctic from March 2007 to March 2009. The Antarctic Southern Ocean Coalition (ASOC) is conducting a project with the goal of enhancing the environmental legacy of the IPY, by:

• raising the environmental awareness of scientists and visitors,
• assessing the environmental impacts of the IPY and highlighting the needs for proper environmental management, and
• examining the global public’s perception of Antarctica and its wilderness values.

It is one of 459 projects that has received official endorsement from the IPY Programme Office.


Rationale
The IPY is taking place on the 50th anniversary of the International Geophysical Year (IGY) which left a legacy of peace and international cooperation in the form of the 1959 Antarctic Treaty. Since the IGY, the 1991 Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty was signed and entered into force. The Protocol establishes that the protection of the environment and the wilderness values of Antarctica “shall be fundamental considerations in the planning and conduct of all activities in the Antarctic Treaty area”.

Our vision is that the IPY 2007-8 will, in turn, be remembered alongside its scientific advances for its positive environmental legacy. The IPY can set forth a new Antarctic paradigm, predicated on sharing of facilities and logistics and a commitment to minimizing the human footprint. This can involve a truly international community of environmentally aware scientists, logisticians and other visitors to what remains the greatest wilderness on our common planet.

Raising environmental awareness:
Among Scientists
Science has been the predominant activity in Antarctica, and its priority status is enshrined in the Antarctic Treaty and its Environmental Protocol. Protecting the environment of Antarctica is within the interest of Antarctic scientists, as it helps to preserve Antarctica’s unique value for scientific research.

Each individual scientific project may have a relatively small environmental impact, but the impacts from an ensemble of a nation’s research program, or an international effort, such as that from the IPY, are not negligible. Increasingly, new technologies enable research activities to go further into hitherto undeveloped areas, enlarging the human footprint and fragmenting the Antarctic wilderness.

Based on data available in 2006, our analysis of the 227 projects that have been endorsed by the IPY Programme Office shows that 99 of them have Antarctic or bipolar focus. These 99 projects encompass at least 350 research activities, of which, 286 (82%) plan to conduct fieldwork in Antarctica. Of the 286 activities with fieldwork components, 106 (37%) are planning to leave behind physical infrastructure.

We encourage scientists to do their part in enhancing the environmental legacy of their projects. This could be accomplished in various ways during the planning and execution stages of projects, such as:

• using renewable energy, non-invasive or remote sensing techniques;
• sharing logistics and data collection;
• minimizing the release of irretrievable equipment into the environment.

For more information:
Poster presented at American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting 2006, San Francisco, USA, 11-15 December, 2006; and at the 2007 Meeting of the European Geosciences Union (EGU) General Assembly 2007, Vienna, Austria, 15-20 April, 2007, under Session GI4 Instrumentation related to polar regions and the IPY.
The abstract may be accessed here.




Among Tourists
The tourism industry brings the largest number of people to the region each year. Protecting the environment is also within the interest of tour operators and their customers, as many visitors are attracted by Antarctica’s extraordinary environment.

All human activities in Antarctica lead to environmental impacts – direct, indirect, and cumulative. Ship cruises and landings contribute to air pollution, waste generation, introduction of non-native species, disturbance to wildlife, trail and soil erosion and other environmental impacts.

ASOC has prepared a pamphlet for prospective visitors to Antarctica to increase their awareness about their potential environmental impacts. Entitled “Know Before You Go”, the publication highlights the potential environmental impacts of Antarctic tourism and suggests actions that prospective visitors can take to reduce their impacts.

The pamphlet is available for download here. Printed copies are also available on request.

If you are planning a trip to Antarctica, read about ASOC's Antarctica Tourism Campaign.


Assessment of the environmental impacts of the IPY
We are conducting an assessment of the local and cumulative environmental impacts of the ensemble of IPY-related activities. Impacts on the physical environment, the biological system and the wilderness and aesthetic values of Antarctica will be identified. Cumulative effects from these and ongoing activities will be evaluated for the period of IPY and beyond.

The assessment will highlight the value of a strategic approach to planning activities in Antarctica.

For more information:
A Glimpse into the Environmental Legacy of the International Polar Year 2007-2008 (Information Paper 64 submitted to ATCM XXIX in 2006)

The Human Footprint of the IPY 2007-2008 in Antarctica (Information Paper 86 submitted to ATCM XXX in 2007)



Study on the Public perception of Antarctica and its wilderness values
Researchers from ASOC, the University of Santa Cruz, USA, and the University of Tilburg, the Netherlands are collaborating in a study to examine the global public’s perception of Antarctica and its wilderness values. A questionnaire has been designed and surveys are being conducted in the respective countries and on tourist ships in Antarctica in 2007, with plans to expand to other global locations in the near future.

If you are interested to participate, please feel free to fill in the questionnaire and return it to one of the members of the research team.



Keep in touch
Check out our latest blogs on the IPY website:
http://www.ipy.org/index.php?/ipy/author/environmentipy/

The full proposal of the project can be found at:
http://classic.ipy.org/development/eoi/proposal-details.php?id=454

For more information, please contact:
tinatintk@gmail.com