Russian delegation blocks global efforts to create Ross Sea

For Immediate Release

BREMERHAVEN GERMANY,  – 16 July 2013 

Russian delegation blocks global efforts to create Ross Sea MPA

The Last Ocean Trust expressed extreme disappointment at the loss of an unprecedented  opportunity to protect one of the last great ocean wildernesses on Earth, the Ross Sea Antarctica. This week’s special meeting of the 25 Members of the Commission for the Conservation on Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) concluded today in Bremerhaven, Germany with no results.

For only the second time ever a special intercessional meeting was called at the request of Russia and other nations to further discuss a Ross Sea marine protected area jointly proposed by NZ and US Government. The Ross Sea MPA was to include 2.3 million square kilometres, including a "fully protected" area of 1.6 million square kilometres.

Nations attended the special meeting in hope that a result would be achieved, but that was thwarted on the first day when the Russian delegation, with support from the Ukraine, raised legal issues as to whether CCAMLR has the authority to establish marine protected areas. This is despite CCAMLR already establishing a marine protected area around South Orkney area in 2009.

“The preparation by everyone attending these talks has been huge, particularly the NZ & US Governments” said Peter Young, co-founder of the Last Ocean Trust.” Russia’s actions are seen as an blatant attempt to stall progress, they are a set back but by no means the end of the journey. As long as we have pristine places like the Ross Sea we have a reason to continue to fight for their protection."

Young is attending the talks in Bremerhaven along with members of the Antarctic Ocean Alliance, which is made up of influential environmental organizations including Pew Environmental Group, WWF,  Greenpeace and Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition (ASOC). 

“We are extremely disappointed that the meeting is ending without any result,” said Jim Barnes, Executive Director of ASOC.  “After all this time and after so much effort, that is completely unacceptable. CCAMLR cannot function if its Members do not come to the table in good faith. We look forward to Russia finding constructive ways to participate in establishing MPAs at the next meeting this October.”

The Alliance partners will attend the next CCAMLR meeting in Hobart, in October this year to press CCAMLR to deliver on its conservation commitments and to extend Southern Ocean protection to these and other important habitats.

The Ross Sea is a biodiversity hotspot and is the most productive area of the Southern Ocean. It is home to many species found nowhere else and has all its top predators intact, including whales, seals, large fish, penguins and other seabirds.  The Ross Sea is critical for scientific research, both for studying how intact marine ecosystems function and for determining the impacts of global climate change.

About The Last Ocean
View the promo here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaqEWbHNQGo&feature=plcp
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ENDS

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