Southern worries

The international conservation organisation, the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) has much to worry about, but one of its key concerns is Antarctica, which, with its surrounding Southern Ocean, comprises 40 per cent of the surface of the planet. Until recently pristine, with climate change it is becoming increasingly accessible and attracting interest to the vast natural resources it contains. So last month, the WWF announced plans to seek marine reserves covering 10 per cent of the Southern Ocean area. The wildlife charity says the protected areas are needed to help unique populations of fish, seabirds and marine animals including whales, seals, albatrosses and penguins. Constance Johnson, WWF Antarctic and Southern Ocean initiative manager said: " WWF is calling for an ecologically representative network of marine protected areas covering at least 10 per cent of the 35 million square kilometre Southern Ocean by 2012. " " Creating a network of marine protected areas will help reduce the impact of other pressures in the region, such as fisheries and tourism, helping to sustain a healthier marine environment which is better able to adapt to rising temperatures. " In the past 50 years, the Antarctic has seen some of the greatest temperature changes on the planet, having warmed in some places by 3ºC. The changes have had an adverse effect on wildlife, which is already under threat from non-native species such as rats, mice and rabbits, brought to the continent by humans. And worries are growing that countries are increasing their territorial claims and potential exploitation of the region as temperatures rise and access eases. At the time of the WWF's announcement it was reported that Britain plans to lodge claims with the UN for right to natural resources in large tracts of the Southern Ocean and surrounding islands, such as the Falklands, under its sovereignty. The WWF has launched a plan to create nature reserves within the Southern Ocean as commercial pressures on the region build. The WWF reports that researchers have noticed a decline in rockhopper, chinstrap and adelie penguin populations as a result of the decline in sea ice. Krill, the foundation of the Antarctic food chain, are in serious decline and newly exposed water allows greater access to illegal fishing boats. The UK's claim would be in defiance of the spirit of the 1959 Antarctic treaty, to which Britain is a signatory. The treaty specifically states that no …