Located on the edge of the southern ocean, Hobart, the beautiful and wild capital of Tasmania (Australia) is one of the five large entrance doors overlooking the Antarctic. It is also the headquarters of the Commission for the Conservation of the Antarctic Wildlife and Flora (Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, CCAMLR, in English), which welcomes its annual meeting this week .
The CCAMLR gives the possibility of strengthening international collaboration and taking larger measures in order to safeguard our oceans for future generations. Protecting the Antarctic environment is protecting the future of the planet.
The commission was created forty years ago, at a time when it was feared that unsustainable fishing would threaten long -term sustainability of the antarctic marine fauna and flora. This is the case with the Krill, a key species of the ecosystem, because it is an essential source of food for penguins, seals and whales.
a remarkable carbon well
But, since then, it has become obvious that the protection of the Antarctic ecosystem is essential to the resolution of climate change and that this ecosystem plays a role as important as existing humid forests. This is why the CCAMLR appears today as a key player in the international effort to resolve the environmental crisis.
Science is formal. Protected sea areas are one of the most effective measures to increase biomass and strengthen resilience in the face of environmental pressures.
These protective measures are crucial with regard to the Krill, which is not only the most abundant multicellular organism on the planet, but also a remarkable carbon well. According to certain estimates, of the atmosphere each year, which is equivalent to removing billions of traffic cars.
It is unfortunately a race against the clock. The rise in ocean temperatures and acidity levels decrease reproduction rates and, if current trends are maintained, these rates may experience a catastrophic decline by the end of the century.
three million square kilometers
The CCAMLR can help to slow down these trends if it respects its commitment to create a solid network of marine areas protected in Antarctica. Currently, there are two proposals supported by the United States, the European Union, Australia and fourteen members on the table. They could protect 3 million square kilometers of practically virgin waters off the Eastern Antarctica and in Weddell Sea. These proposals have already been validated by a rigorous scientific examination. All that remains is the political will to approve them.
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