The South African flag flies among those of the other Antarctic Treaty nations at the South Pole
South Africa is one of the 12 founder signatories of the Antarctic Treaty, signed in Washington, DC, USA on 1 December 1959 and coming into force in 1961. To this day South Africa remains the only Party from the Antarctic Continent, among the 29 Consulting and 24 non Consultative Parties from around the World. Most years (annually since 1995) the Consultative Parties have met “for the purpose of exchanging information, consulting together on matters of common interest pertaining to Antarctica, and formulating and considering and recommending to their Governments measures in furtherance of the principles and objectives of the Treaty” This forum is known as the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM).
Earlier this year Richard Skinner of the South African Department of Environmental Affairs and a long-time participant within the South African National Antarctic Programme (we travelled together on a Gough Island relief voyage way back in the early 1980s when Richard was the governmental Officer in Charge) approached the Antarctic Legacy of South Africa (ALSA) with a request that it prepare an Information Paper describing its project for this year’s ATCM.
Accordingly ALSA drafted a short account of its activities over the last two years which South Africa submitted as Information Paper 51 to the 40th Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM XL) which was held in the Beijing Hotel International Convention Center, Beijing, China over 22 May to 1 June. The meeting was chaired by His Excellency Mr. Liu Zhenmin, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China. Over 400 delegates from more than 35 countries and eight scientific, inter-governmental and non-governmental organisations attended ATCM XL, including the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), the Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programs (COMNAP) and the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR).
Richard Skinner was the lead organizer within South Africa for the Twenty-seventh Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM XXVII) held in Cape Town (ATCMs are hosted by member states in alphabetical order and in 2004 it came to South Africa’s turn). Richard reported to ALSA from Beijing last week that our paper was tabled in the ATCM’s Working Group 1 which deals with Policy, Legal and Institutional Matters under its Agenda Item 11 covering educational issues. There were no less than 14 papers tabled under this topic and with more pressing policy and legal issues being given priority for discussion there was no time for all 14 to be introduced so South Africa’s paper was taken “as read”. Information Paper 51 is available for reading on the website of the Secretariat of the Antarctic Treaty (see below).
The ATCM’s closing Host Country Communique reported: “Discussions in the ATCM focused on the following issues: operation of the Antarctic Treaty System, liability, biological prospecting in Antarctica, exchange of information, education issues, multi-year strategic work plan, safety and operations in Antarctica, inspections under the Antarctic Treaty and the Environment Protocol, science issues, scientific cooperation and facilitation, future Antarctic science challenges, implications of climate change for management of Antarctic Treaty area, tourism and non-governmental activities in the Antarctic Treaty area.”
ALSA is grateful for this opportunity to advertise its mission of preserving South Africa’s Antarctic history to all the World’s Antarctic nations. The next ATCM will be hosted by Ecuador in 2018.
The summary of South Africa’s Information Paper on ALSA follows:
“At the 38th Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM) held in Sofia, Bulgaria in 2015, South Africa presented ATCM XXXVIII / IP 124 “South Africa’s Antarctic Education and Outreach Activities” at the Workshop on Education and Outreach. This paper made reference to the South African National Antarctic Programme (SANAP) funding of an Antarctic Legacy of South Africa (ALSA) project. This paper provides an update on the ALSA project, its establishment, further development and evolvement into South Africa’s foremost Antarctic and sub-Antarctic heritage depository and its education and awareness initiatives.”
Reference:
South Africa 2017. Creating Awareness: the Role of the Antarctic Legacy of South Africa (ALSA). ATCM XL / IP 51. 5 pp.
John Cooper, Antarctic Legacy of South Africa, Department of Botany and Zoology, Stellenbosch University, 04 June 2017