Drive for global action to save Antarctica

INTERNATIONAL action is urgently needed to protect Antarctica, environmentalists warned today.

The WWF global conservation organisation said the world’s last great wilderness was under threat from climate change, unsustainable fishing and the spread of non-native species.

The charity is demanding marine-protected areas to cover millions of square kilometres of the Southern Ocean by 2012, to help conserve fish, seabird and marine animal populations.

WWF said the Antarctica Peninsula had warmed by as much as 3C over the past 50 years, a warming of five times the global average, and rockhopper, chinstrap and adelie penguin populations were in decline.

It wants to see countries that are party to the Antarctic Treaty and the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources use the 2007-2009 International Polar Year to increase protection for the region.

WWF-UK chief executive David Nussbaum said: “It is vital that countries start immediate multilateral action to conserve Antarctica and the Southern Ocean for future generations.”

At an event in London today, WWF will seek support from scientists, diplomats and environmentalists to designate a network of marine protected areas in the Southern Ocean.