Brussels, 16/10/2013 (Agence Europe) - The European Union, along with a number of other countries, including the United States and Australia, will again argue for marine protected areas to be set up in the Antarctic, a region where ecosystems are extremely vulnerable. At the end of July, Russia blocked the establishment of such areas (see EUROPE 10890).
Speaking on behalf of the EU, Maritime Affairs Commissioner Maria Damanaki announced on Wednesday 16 October that, at the next meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) in Hobart next week, the EU, France and Australia will put forward a proposal for the establishment of marine protected areas in East Antarctica. The United States and New Zealand will present one for a marine protected area in the Ross Sea. The establishment of such marine protected areas is fully in line with the vision expressed by the World Community at the Rio+20 Conference in 2012, argues Damanaki. (LC/transl.fl)