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Abstract

abstract

Together, Antarctica and the surrounding Southern Ocean constitute a remote and unique ecosystem which is strongly influenced by the physical environment. The susceptibility of the marine component of this system to human impact has been amply demonstrated by the detrimental consequences of whaling and sealing in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. There is now increasing concern that over-harvesting of krill (Euphausia superba) and the possible effects of offshore mineral exploitation will further affect marine living resources. The region's legal status is largely determined by the Antarctic Treaty, and its Consultative Parties (ATCP's) have given high priority to ecological considerations through the enactment of a number of environmental protection and conservation protocols. These include the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Seals (CCAS), the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) and the Convention on the Regulation of Antarctic Mineral Resource Activities (CRAMRA), which has recently been replaced by the Protocol to the Antarctic Treaty on Environmental Protection. Under international Jaw, the Treaty System (ATS) binds all states to refrain from inflicting wanton damage on the Antarctic environment as a whole and, in the case of CCAMLR, on the marine environment in particular. The significance of the ATS to South Africa as an ATCP in combination with the Republic's geographic proximity to the region is discussed.