The Antarctic Treaty
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The Antarctic Treaty Measures adopted at the Thirty-fourth Consultative Meeting held at Buenos Aires, 20 June – 1 July 2011 Presented to Parliament by the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs by Command of Her Majesty January 2014 Cm 8809 £31.50 © Crown copyright 2014 You may re-use this information (excluding logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence or email. [email protected] Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned. Any enquiries regarding this publication should be sent to us at Treaty Section, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, King Charles Street, London, SW1A 2AH. ISBN: 9780101880923 Printed in the UK by The Stationery Office Limited on behalf of the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office ID P002619602 01/14 36734 19585 Printed on paper containing 30% recycled fibre content minimum. MEASURES ADOPTED AT THE THIRTY-FOURTH ANTARCTIC TREATY CONSULTATIVE MEETING Buenos Aires, Argentina 20 June – 1 July 2011 The Measures1 adopted at the Thirty-fourth Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting are reproduced below from the Final Report of the Meeting. In accordance with Article IX, paragraph 4, of the Antarctic Treaty, the Measures adopted at Consultative Meetings become effective upon approval by all Contracting Parties whose representatives were entitled to participate in the meeting at which they were adopted (i.e. all the Consultative Parties). The full text of the Final Report of the Meeting, including the Decisions and Resolutions adopted at that Meeting and colour copies of the maps found in this command paper, is available on the website of the Antarctic Treaty Secretariat at www.ats.aq/documents. The approval procedures set out in Article 6 (1) of Annex V to the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty2 apply to Measures 1 to 10 (2011). The approval procedures set out in Article 8 of Annex V to the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty apply to Measures 11 and 12 (2011). 1As defined in Decision 1 (1995), published in Miscellaneous No. 28 (1996) Cm 3483 2 Treaty Series No. 15 (2006) Cm 6855 The texts of the Antarctic Treaty together with the texts of the Recommendations of the first three Consultative Meetings (Canberra 1961, Buenos Aires 1962 and Brussels 1964) have been published in Treaty Series No. 97 (1961) Cmnd. 1535 and Miscellaneous No. 23 (1965) Cmnd. 2822. The text of the Environmental Protocol to the Antarctic Treaty has been published in Treaty Series No. 6 (1999) Cm 4256. The text of Annex V to the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty has been published in Treaty Series No. 15 (2006) Cm 6855. The Recommendations of the Fourth to Eighteenth Consultative Meetings, the Reports of the First to Sixth Special Consultative Meetings and the Measures adopted at the Nineteenth and the Measures adopted at the Twenty-sixth, Twenty-seventh, Twenty-eighth, Twenty-ninth, Thirtieth, Thirty-first, Thirty-second and Thirty-third Consultative Meetings were also published as Command Papers. No Command Papers were published for the Twentieth to Twenty-fifth Consultative Meetings. 3 Measures Adopted at the XXXIV Consultative Meeting held at Buenos Aires, 20 June – 1 July 2011 Measure 1 (2011) Antarctic Specially Protected Area No. 116 (New College Valley, Caughley Beach, Cape Bird, Ross Island): Revised Management Plan. Pages 5 to 18. Measure 2 (2011) Antarctic Specially Protected Area No. 120 (Pointe-Géologie Archipelago, Terre Adélie): Revised Management Plan. Pages 19 to 28. Measure 3 (2011) Antarctic Specially Protected Area No. 122 (Arrival Heights, Hut Point Peninsula, Ross Island): Revised Management Plan. Pages 29 to 45. Measure 4 (2011) Antarctic Specially Protected Area No. 126 (Byers Peninsula, Livingston Island, South Shetland Islands): Revised Management Plan. Pages 46 to 71. Measure 5 (2011) ASPA Antarctic Specially Protected Area No. 127 (Haswell Island): Revised Management Plan. Pages 72 to 88. Measure 6 (2011) Antarctic Specially Protected Area No. 131 (Canada Glacier, Lake Fryxell, Taylor Valley, Victoria Land): Revised Management Plan. Pages 89 to 101. Measure 7 (2011) Antarctic Specially Protected Area No. 149 (Cape Shirreff and San Telmo Island, Livingston Island, South Shetland Islands): Revised Management Plan. Pages 102 to 130. Measure 8 (2011) Antarctic Specially Protected Area No. 165 (Edmonson Point, Wood Bay, Ross Sea): Revised Management Plan. Pages 131 to 159. Measure 9 (2011) Antarctic Specially Protected Area No. 167 (Hawker Island, Vestfold Hills, Ingrid Christensen Coast, Princess Elizabeth Land, East Antarctica): Revised Management Plan. Pages 160 to 175. Measure 10 (2011) Antarctic Specially Managed Area No. 2 (McMurdo Dry Valleys, Southern Victoria Land): Revised Management Plan. Pages 176 to 242. Measure 11 (2011) Antarctic Historic Sites and Monuments: Monument to the Antarctic Treaty and Plaque. Page 243. Measure 12 (2011) Antarctic Historic Sites and Monuments: No.1 Building at Great Wall Station. Page 244. 4 Measure 1 Antarctic Specially Protected Area No 116 (New College Valley, Caughley Beach, Cape Bird, Ross Island): Revised Management Plan The Representatives, Recalling Articles 3, 5 and 6 of Annex V to the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty providing for the designation of Antarctic Specially Protected Areas (“ASPA”) and approval of Management Plans for those Areas; Recalling • Recommendation XIII-8 (1985), which designated Caughley Beach as Site of Special Scienti c Interest (“SSSI”) No 10 and annexed a Management Plan for the site; • Recommendation XIII-12 (1985), which designated New College Valley as Specially Protected Area (“SPA”) No 20; • Recommendation XVI-7 (1991), which extended the expiry date of SSSI 10 to 31 December 2001; • Recommendation XVII-2 (1992), which annexed a Management Plan for SPA 20; • Measure 1 (2000), which expanded SPA 20 to incorporate Caughley Beach, annexed a revised Management Plan for the Area, and provided that thereupon SSSI 10 shall cease to exist; • Decision 1 (2002), which renamed and renumbered SPA 20 as ASPA 116; • Measure 1 (2006), which adopted a revised Management Plan for ASPA 116; Recalling that Recommendation XVI-7 (1991) and Measure 1 (2000) have not become effective, and that Recommendation XVII-2 (1992) was withdrawn by Measure 1 (2010); Recalling that Recommendation XIII-12 (1985) and Recommendation XVI-7 (1991) are designated as no longer current by Decision 1 (2011); Noting that the Committee for Environmental Protection has endorsed a revised Management Plan for ASPA 116; Desiring to replace the existing Management Plan for ASPA 116 with the revised Management Plan; Recommend to their Governments the following Measure for approval in accordance with paragraph 1 of Article 6 of Annex V to the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty: 5 ATCM XXXIV Final Report That: 1. the revised Management Plan for Antarctic Specially Protected Area No 116 (New College Valley, Caughley Beach, Cape Bird, Ross Island), which is annexed to this Measure, be approved; and 2. the prior Management Plans for ASPA 116, namely those annexed to Recommendation XIII-8 (1985), Measure 1 (2000) and Measure 1 (2006), shall cease to be effective. 6 Measure 1 (2011) - Annex Management Plan For Antarctic Specially Protected Area No. 116 NEW COLLEGE VALLEY, CAUGHLEY BEACH, CAPE BIRD, ROSS ISLAND 1. Description of values to be protected In 1985, two areas at Cape Bird, Ross Island were designated as SSSI No. 10, Caughley Beach (Recommendation XIII-8 (1985)) and SPA No. 20, New College Valley (Recommendation XIII-12 (1985)), following proposals by New Zealand that these areas should be protected because they contained some of the richest stands of moss and associated microflora and fauna in the Ross Sea region of Antarctica. This is the only area on Ross Island where protection is specifically given to plant assemblages and associated ecosystems. At that time, SPA No. 20 was enclosed within SSSI No. 10, in order to provide more stringent access conditions to that part of the Area. In 2000, SSSI No. 10 was incorporated with SPA No. 20 by Measure 1 (2000), with the former area covered by SPA No. 20 becoming a Restricted Zone within the revised SPA No. 20. The boundaries of the Area were revised from the boundaries in the original recommendations, in view of improved mapping and to follow more closely the ridges enclosing the catchment of New College Valley. Caughley Beach itself was adjacent to, but never a part of, the original Area, and for this reason the entire Area was renamed as New College Valley, which was within both of the original sites. The Area was redesignated by Decision 1 (2002) as Antarctic Specially Protected Area (ASPA) No. 116 and a revised Management Plan was adopted through Measure 1 (2006). The boundaries of the Area closely follow the ridges enclosing the catchment of New College Valley and cover approximately 0.33 km2. Moss in this Area is restricted to localised areas of water-flushed ground, with cushions and carpets up to 20 m2 in area. A diverse range of algal species also inhabit streams in the Area, and springtails, mites and nematodes are plentiful on water surfaces and underneath rocks. The absence of lichens makes the species assemblage in this Area unique on Ross Island. The susceptibility of mosses to disturbance by trampling, sampling, pollution or introductions of non-native species is such that the Area requires long-term special protection. Designation of this Area is intended to ensure examples of this habitat type are adequately protected from visitors and overuse from scientific investigations. The ecosystem at this site remains of exceptional scientific value for ecological investigations and the Restricted Zone is valuable as a reference site for future comparative studies.