www.asoc.org Increasingly complex governance. Documents at XXX ATCM, New Delhi, 2007 ASOC was created in 1978-79 with the following goals: 1980: To encourage Antarctic Treaty nations to frame the pro- posed marine convention within a strong precautionary and eco- • to influence the content of the Article II of CCAMLR - system approach. the 'ecosystem-as-a-whole' principle; 1982: To encourage Antarctic Treaty nations to abandon mining • to stop potential minerals development of Antarctica, in favour of acknowledging Antarctica’s globally significant wil- then under discussion behind closed doors; and derness and scientific values. 1985: To bring an independent view of activities in Antarctica • to open up the Antarctic Treaty System to the participa- during the first Antarctic voyage of ASOC member Greenpeace. tion of environmental groups. 1986: To highlight the failure of current protection measures un- In 1980 ASOC and IUCN hosted a scientific workshop Removal of World Park Base begins, December 1991 der the Antarctic Treaty while seabirds nesting on small islands near the French base at Dumont d’Urville were being blown up that recommended ecosystem wording for Art. II. This lan- to construct an airstrip. guage was approved by governments in 1981 when 1987: To strengthen the environmental voice in Antarctic Treaty CCAMLR was concluded. Later that year ASOC and its meetings when ASOC member Greenpeace established World member groups, led by Greenpeace International and Park Base on Ross Island. WWF, began a successful 10-year global campaign to 1989: To celebrate the abandonment of the mining regime in fa- stop the Minerals Convention. During the minerals nego- vour of a conservation and scientific future for Antarctica. tiations the ATS began to open its doors to other coun- 1991: To celebrate signing of the Protocol to the Antarctic Treaty on Environmental Protection, placing a ban on mining activities tries, UN agencies and civil society, including ASOC. of at least 50 years and providing legally binding protection to ASOC was inspired by the 1972 Second World Confer- the Antarctic environment and dependent and associated eco- ence on National Parks that agreed on a resolution on systems. Antarctica as a World Park that acknowledged “the An unofficial environmental inspection, 1994 1994: To remind Antarctic Treaty nations that the Antarctic still needs a ratified Protocol, a functioning Secretariat, liability pro- great scientific and aesthetic value of the unaltered natu- visions and an independent inspectorate. ral ecosystems of the Antarctica”. Greenpeace Interna- 1996: To urge Treaty Nations to take urgent action to address tional promoted the World Park Concept within the UN the alarming decline of the ozone layer in the Antarctic spring General Assembly's debate on the Question of Antarctica and to document emerging evidence of climate change in Ant- during the 1980s. arctica Through the 1990s: To bring independent inspection reports to In 1987, ASOC was granted formal access as an ‘expert the Antarctic Treaty table, highlighting problems in various pro- observer’ to CCAMLR and in subsequent years to Ant- grammes. arctic Treaty meetings, signalling the opening of the In more recent years, ASOC has drawn attention to the need Treaty System to environmental groups. for full implementation of the Madrid Protocol, the establishment of marine protected areas, the protection of whales, fish and krill, in the Southern Ocean, the growth of unregulated tourism, and the alarming number of shipping accidents in Antarctica. Credits: Photos by Greenpeace and Ricardo Roura. Environmental sampling, 2002 .