SCAR REPORT TO XVIII ATCM
OPENING ADDRESS BY DR R M LAWS, PRESIDENT OF THE SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE ON ANTARCTIC RESEARCH
SCAR is pleased to participate in this meeting and looks forward to making a contribution towards its success. The SCAR activities since XVII ATCM have involved a number of continuing, new, and developing programmes that are very relevant to the work of the Antarctic Treaty System.
The membership of SCAR has not change but applications for Associate Membership, from Canada and Ukraine, will be considered at XXIII SCAR to be held in Rome, Italy in September 1993. The closer relations with COMNAP, have been formalized by annual joint meetings of our two Executive Committees, the first held in Stockholm, Sweden in April 1993. Continuing areas of close cooperation are: environmental monitoring, data coordination and management, and global change research.
SCAR continues to be active in initiating, promoting and coordinating a diversity of scientific activities, but only a few can be briefly noted here. First, a major new SCAR programme is described in "The Role of the Antarctic in Global Change" and the SCAR Group of Specialists on Global Change and the Antarctic (GLOCHANT) has commenced its work; two meetings have been held, in Cambridge, UK (1993) and Grenoble, France (1994). Adequate finding is critical to the success of this major programme and a GLOCHANT Special Fund is being set up, to which it is expected National Operators will contribute. Proposals have been invited to host a Regional Research Centre (RRC) for the programme on the lines of an RRC for IGBP-START, and to provide a co-ordinator. Talks have been held with IGBP and it is hoped that in due course the SCAR RRC can be integrated within START. The planning and coordination groups have begun their work.
Secondly, the Group of Specialists on Environmental Affairs and Conservation (GOSEAC) has continued its work which is increasingly relevant to the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty. A meeting was held in Gorizia, Italy in April 1993, and another will be held in Santiago, Chile in May 1994. In conjunction with COMNAP, progress has been made on proposals for developing an international environmental monitoring scheme and ways of addressing and resolving the major technical questions arising. SCAR strongly believes that the object of such monitoring should be to provide efficiently, effectively and at minimum cost, a continuing index of the health of the Antarctic terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems at both local and regional levels. Other work has been on Environmental Impact Assessments and Antarctic Protected Areas, and an Inspection Check List has been produced in collaboration with COMNAP. SCAR has made progress, with United States and New Zealand scientists, on resolving the scientific questions relating to the situation at Arrival Heights (SSSI No. 2).
Thirdly, progress has been made on Antarctic data management by the SCAR-COMNAP ad-hoc Planning Group on Antarctic Data Management, which held its second meeting in Boulder, Colorado, USA during September 1993. This meeting developed the concept of the Antarctic Data Directory System (ADDS) including an Antarctic Master Directory (AMD). A detailed implementation plan has been drawn up to provide a framework for decisions about participation in and management of the system. The cost-effectiveness and feasibility of proceeding to the second phase proposed earlier--an Antarctic Database System--has not been demonstrated and may be superseded by the development of distributed database technology, within the World Data Centre system. A prototype Antarctic Master Directory is being prepared for demonstration to SCAR. If a suitable proposal is received for hosting the AMD, the ADDS could be operational in 1995. A full report will be made to XIX ATCM in 1995. An Antarctic Digital Database (SCAR copyright) has been prepared, consisting of a topographical database on CD-ROM, with a User's Guide and Reference Manual.
Other groups have been active. For example, the SCAR Group of Specialists on Seals has developed a new programme on Antarctic Pack Ice Seal (APIS), which can be expected to produce information of value to CCAS, CCAMLR (including CEMP), CEP, and other international programmes concerned with the Southern Ocean. The SCAR Group of Specialists on Southern Ocean Ecology has developed a programme for research in the Antarctic coastal and shelf zone. The overall aim of this CS-EASIZ programme is to improve our understanding of the structure and dynamics of the Antarctic coastal and shelf marine ecosystem, the most complex and productive in Antarctica, and likely the most sensitive to global environmental change. APIS will overlap and complement CS-EASIZ in its ecological orientation and aim of detecting and understanding environmental change. There will also be close links with CCAMLR, and other international programmes.
I have mentioned only some of the highlights in the diversity of SCAR activities. In these and other ways SCAR wishes to maintain its input of advice to the Antarctic Treaty System, but I must end, as did my opening address to XVII ATCM, by again reminding this meeting of the rigorous financial constraints which regrettably limit SCAR activities, both in basic and applied science. Support from the Antarctic Treaty System would be appropriate and welcome in enabling us to carry out, even more effectively, or applied role (a secondary role as seen by our parent body, the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU), of providing scientific advice to the Treaty.
SCAR REPORT TO XVIII ATCM
KYOTO, JAPAN
11-22 APRIL 1994
1. INTRODUCTION
Since XVII ATCM in Venice, November 1992, the SCAR Executive Committee has met in Stockholm, April 1993, and some SCAR groups have held meetings. A new venture was the first formal joint meeting of the SCAR Executive with the COMNAP Executive. This meeting was particularly valuable in enabling both these organizations to work together in close cooperation in order to promote and facilitate scientific research in the Antarctic.
The membership of SCAR has not changed since XVII ATCM but two applications for Associate Membership, from Canada and Ukraine, will be considered by Delegates at XXIII SCAR, to be held in Rome, Italy, 5-9 September 1994. Similarly, the membership of the Executive Committee has not changed (see appendices 2 and 3).
This report is available for all participants at XVIII ATCM but the three annexed SCAR publications are limited to one set per Delegation.
2. THE ANTARCTIC AND GLOBAL CHANGE
At XXII SCAR the Delegates approved the establishment of a Group of Specialists on Global Change and the Antarctic to coordinate the SCAR global change programme set out in "The Role of the Antarctic in Global Change: An International Plan for a Regional Research Programme". Professor C R Bentley was appointed Convenor of the Group of Specialists.
The Group held its first meeting (GLOCHANT 1) in Cambridge, United Kingdom, during February 1993. A number of modifications to the original proposals from the Bremerhaven Workshop in September 1991, were made. In particular, the Group proposed five Planning Groups for five of the six core programmes, the sixth core programme on detection of global change to be incorporated into the planning of each group as appropriate. Two coordination groups were also proposed for data and numerical modeling; the activities of these groups being applicable to all the planning groups. The SCAR Executive also accepted a suggestion from the co-chairmen of the SCAR-COMNAP ad hoc Planning Group on the Management of Antarctic Data that the ad hoc group should initially serve also as the GLOCHANT data coordination group. The Executive emphasized the importance of GLOCHANT members maintaining liaison with other SCAR groups and international programmes on a two-way basis, nothing particularly the programme being planned by IASC.
At its meeting in Stockholm, the SCAR Executive discussed various ideas for funding for the Group of Specialists and the Planning and Coordination Groups but, although several possible sources were identified, it seemed the best solution would be to establish a "Special Fund" for the global change programme, similar to the former BIOMASS Special Fund. National programmes would be invited to contribute on a voluntary basis for the duration of the global change programme. Funding for the Group was also discussed at the Joint Executive Meeting when it was agreed that SCAR would match additional funding from non-operator sources up to a limit of $50,000 per year. SCAR is about to issue an invitation to all national programmes to contribute to the Special Fund.
In October 1993, SCAR National Committees were invited to submit proposals to host a Regional Research Centre (RRC) for the SCAR programme of global change research in the Antarctic, along the lines of RRC for IGBP-START. The RRC would also house a Coordinator for the programme and both the Centre and the Coordinator would be funded by the host. This exercise elicited two proposals, one of them a joint proposal between three countries, and the SCAR Executive is about to make a decision on this.
In February 1994, the Group of Specialists held its second meeting, GLOCHANT II, near Grenoble, France. Progress was reviewed, particularly the progress of the Planning and Coordinating Groups. Some of these had already held meetings, one has just completed determining its membership, and one held a workshop on ice-drilling immediately following the meeting. This workshop was supported by the IGBP-PAGES programme. The meeting was also attended by Dr. N Swanberg, Deputy Executive Director of IGBP, who contributed to the discussion on the proposed SCAR RRC and the way in which it could be integrated within the START framework of RRCs. There are certain difficulties in achieving this because the Antarctic is unique and the START framework is structured on sovereign territories with indigenous populations. However, once the RRC is in operation a proposal for it to be included within the START network will be made that, if successful, will be to the benefit of both organizations.
3. SCAR-COMNAP COOPERATION
The Executive Committees of SCAR and COMNAP now hold annual joint meetings. These are normally held in conjunction with the biennial SCAR meeting in even-numbered years and either with the annual COMNAP meeting or at some other time during odd-numbered years. The first of these meetings was held in Stockholm, Sweden, during April 1993. These meetings enable the Executives to examine together those items that are of immediate concern to both organizations and allow closely coordinated planning to proceed. They also allow joint discussion of matters of mutual interest.
An illustrated booklet describing the activities of both organizations is currently being prepared and publication is planned for late 1994 or early 1995.
4. PROTOCOL ON ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION TO THE ANTARCTIC TREATY
The text of the Protocol and of Annexes I to V inclusive was published in SCAR Bulletin No 110 for July 1993 to make it more readily available throughout the SCAR community. The SCAR Bulletin is also published in Polar Record which has a wider circulation outside SCAR.
5. ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS AND CONSERVATION
The Group of Specialists on Environmental Affairs and Conservation met in Gorizia, Italy, during April 1993 (GOSEAC V). Key topics discussed included:
. the inspection checklist - a joint SCAR-COMNAP Working Paper will be submitted to XVIII ATCM;
. environmental monitoring - a joint SCAR-COMNAP Working Paper will be submitted to XVIII ATCM;
. incineration - a SCALOP survey on incinerators has been completed and will be discussed at GOSEAC VI;
. station matrix - to include essential parameters for environmental monitoring;
. ecosystem matrix - this is undergoing further revision and will be discussed at GOSEAC VI;
. in situ burning of hydrocarbon spills - a set of papers with special reference to problems in the polar regions will be discussed at GOSEAC VI;
. environmental impact assessments - GOSEAC VI will begin an assessment of the scientific content of environmental impact assessments. It was noted that circulation of scientific content of environmental impact assessments. It was noted that circulation of these was very variable and did not always follow the circulation given in the Protocol; the timing of circulation was also variable and did not always allow sufficient time for comment;
. protected areas - a letter sent to SCAR National Committees urging them to review and revise the management plans for protected areas has produced encouraging results.
The GOSEAC V meeting was followed by a Workshop on Environmental Education and Training, sponsored jointly by SCAR and IUCN. The workshop proceedings are currently being edited for publication.
The next GOSEAC meeting (GOSEAC VI) will be held in Santiago, Chile, during May 1994. A major agenda item will be consideration of ten revised management plans for protected areas as well as a new protected area proposal, submitted by several countries as a result of the letter to National Committees.
A meeting to discuss the situation at Arrival Heights (SSSI No 2) was held in Cambridge during March 1994 between United States and New Zealand scientists under SCAR chairmanship. Progress was made to wards resolving the issue and a report will be available in due course.
6. ANTARCTIC DATA
The SCAR-COMNAP ad hoc Planning Group on Antarctic Data Management continues to be active and held its second meeting in Boulder, Colorado, USA during September 1993. The essential findings of this meeting are given in an Information Paper to XVIII ATCM.
7. ANTARCTIC DIGITAL DATABASE
In 1993 SCAR accepted the copyright of the Antarctic Digital Database. This is a topographical database on CD-ROM, together with a User's Guide and Reference Manual, of geographical information south of 60[[ring]]S prepared by the British Antarctic Survey, the World Conservation Monitoring Centre and the Scott Polar Research Institute assisted by a generous grant from British Petroleum plc. Data were digitized from the best available published maps and satellite imagery supplied by a number of SCAR members. A combined information leaflet and order form is enclosed with this report.
SCAR hopes that the Database will be widely used throughout the SCAR community to build national geographic information systems and to ensure the international consistency and comparability of published maps in the future. All reproductions of derivatives from the Database in printed or digital form must acknowledge the source of the information, and reproduction for commercial purposes is subject to a fee. All income from sales and reproduction fees will be used for the continued maintenance and revision of the Database.
8. HYDROGRAPHIC CHARTING IN ANTARCTIC WATERS
SCAR is continuing it liaison with the International Hydrographic Bureau (IHB) on charting in Antarctic waters. The SCAR Working Group on Geodesy and Geographic Information has appointed one of its members to maintain contact with the IHB. The relationship is planned to help data collected during scientific research programmes to be fed into the IHB database and to enable scientists to identify those areas that are in need of charting to assist with research programmes.
9. SEALS
The SCAR Group of Specialists on Seals has developed a programme to study the Antarctic Pack Ice Seals (APIS). As top predators, seals are likely to be sensitive to changes in the dynamics of ecosystems and, in particular, to variations in the flow of photosynthetically-fixed carbon to higher levels in the food chain caused by climatic or ecological changes. Pack ice seals are excellent indicators of large scale environmental change and, on a smaller scale, variations in seal distribution, abundance and features of their behaviour and physiology in different localities, years and seasons, can provide insights into changes in oceanographic features. Pack ice seals could be used as free-ranging platforms for oceanographic instruments to record and relay (via satellites) data on sea temperature, salinity and ambient light at depth. There is also an urgent need to assess their functional significance in Southern Ocean ecosystems.
The questions to be asked concern: the causes and scale of variation in their distribution and abundance; explanations of the greater abundance of crabeater seals; whether there are more Antarctic seals in relation to primary production than in other regions and if so why; thy their life history parameters fluctuate in a periodic fashion; why these parameters and their observed densities have changed over the past 30 years; how their diets and foraging strategies have adapted to optimize utilization of their food resources; whether they have physiological and behavioural adaptations that make them unusually efficient ecologically; how much carbon they transfer to the atmosphere; and whether there are physiological, condition or behavioural indices that could be used to appraise the pack ice ecosystem through studies of these seal populations?
The APIS Programme can be expected to produce information of value to several Antarctic research programmes and inter-governmental organizations. These include CEP, CCAS, CCAMLR, (including CEMP), SO-GLOBEC, SCOR, SO-JGOFS, SCAR-GLOCHANT, and IWC. A copy of the proposed programme is given at Annex 3.
10. SOUTHERN OCEAN ECOLOGY
The Group of Specialists on Southern Ocean Ecology has developed a SCAR programme of marine research for the Coastal and Shelf Ecosystem of the Antarctic Sea-Ice Zone (CS-EASIZ).
EASIZ developed at a series of workshops, principally in Trondheim (May 1990) and Bremerhaven (September 1991). Elements of the EASIZ initiative, and particularly those associated with open ocean biology, were elaborated by the Southern Ocean components of existing or evolving international programmes: SO-JGOFS and SO-GLOBEC. A key feature of the EASIZ initiative, however, was to provide a scientific framework for the integration of the research carried out at the array of coastal marine stations around Antarctica. This is the role undertaken by the SCAR Coastal and Shelf EASIZ programme (CS-EASIZ) which thereby incorporates much of the heart of the original EASIZ initiative.
The CS-EASIZ programme was developed at workshops in Cambridge (September 1992) and Bremerhaven (September 1993) and was endorsed by the SCAR Executive at its meeting in Stockholm (April 1994).
Scientific aim of the programme
The overall scientific aim of the EASIZ initiative, as it evolved at the Trondheim workshop (May 1990) was:
To determine the role of the Antarctic sea-ice zone on Antarctic marine systems and in the control of global biogeochemical and energy exchanges.
The aim is very general and applies equally to coastal and open-ocean areas. Within Antarctica the coastal zone has the greatest concentration of biomass and is the site of most intense production. A more specific rationale for work in the coastal zone of Antarctica is that developed at the Bremerhaven (September 1993) workshop:
The aim of the CS-EASIZ programme is to improve our understanding of the structure and dynamics of the Antarctic coastal and shelf marine ecosystem, the most complex and productive in Antarctica, and likely the most sensitive to global environmental change. Particular attention will be paid to those features that make the biology of this ice-dominated ecosystem so distinctive, and to understanding seasonal, inter-annual, and long-term changes.
11. CODE OF CONDUCT FOR USE OF ANIMALS FOR SCIENTIFIC PURPOSES IN ANTARCTICA
The SCAR Working Group on Biology appointed a sub-group, under the Chairmanship of Professor A S Blix, to develop a Code of Conduct for Use of Animals for Scientific Purposes in Antarctica. The Code of Conduct was adopted at XXI SCAR for forwarding through National Committees to Governments for introduction at the next ATCM. The Code of Conduct was tabled as a Working Paper at XVII ATCM but there was insufficient time for it to be considered in Working Group II. The Code of Conduct will be re-submitted at XVIII ATCM under Agenda Item 12. The text of the Preamble and the Code of Conduct are attached at Appendix 3.
12. PROTECTION OF ANTARCTIC GEOLOGICAL SPECIMENS
At XXII SCAR the Working Group on Geology expressed concern at the growing potential for valuable geological specimens, particularly fossil and mineral specimens, to be collected by non-scientists and hence to be lost to science. SCAR adopted Recommendation SCAR XXII-1 and hopes that the ATCM will be ale to adopt its own recommendation based on the SCAR recommendation. A Working Paper was tabled at XVII ATCM but there was insufficient time for it to be considered in Working Group II. A draft recommendation will be tabled at XVIII ATCM under Agenda Item 9. The text of the Recommendation SCAR XXII-1 is attached at Appendix 3.
13. RECENT SCAR PUBLICATIONS
The following books have been published by SCAR:
The Distribution and Abundance of Antarctic and Subantarctic Penguins.
Compiled on behalf of the SCAR Bird Biology Subcommittee by E J Woehler. Cambridge, Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research, 76pp, 1993. ISBN 0 948277 14 9.
The Role of the Antarctic in Global Change: An International Plan for a Regional Research Programme.
Compiled by G E Weller, Chairman of the SCAR Steering Committee for the IGBP. Cambridge, Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research, 54pp, 1993. ISBN 0 948277 15 7.
Note: These two publications form Annexes 1 and 2 to this report and one copy of each has been included with this report for each Delegation.
Antarctic digital database user's guide and reference manual.
Compiled by BAS, SPRI, and WCMC. Cambridge, Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research, 156pp, 1993. [This manual accompanies a CD-ROM.] ISBN 0 948277 16 5.
Note: copies of the Database have been distributed to SCAR National Committees and Associate Members and to all members of the SCAR Working Group on Geodesy and Geographic Information.
A combined information leaflet and order form is enclosed with this report.
BIOTAS Manual of Methods for Antarctic terrestrial and freshwater research.
Edited by D D Wynn-Williams on behalf of the SCAR BIOTAS Programme. Cambridge, Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research, 1992, 273pp. ISBN 0 948277 13 0.
The following three books have been published commercially:
Antarctic Seals: Research Methods and Techniques
This book arose from the work of the SCAR Group of Specialists on Seals when it became apparent that there was a need to standardize seal research methods and techniques as various national programmes began to undertake seal studies in the Antarctic. It gives a detailed account of well-tried and, where possible, agreed methodologies, techniques, procedures and rationales for the collection and initial analysis of data on the biology and population ecology of Antarctic seals. It will not only help to facilitate comparisons between different regions of Antarctica, but will also provide a guide for those studying seals in other parts of the world and those carrying out research on other large mammal species. There are 15 chapters, written by acknowledged experts in the field, covering all aspects of seal research, including: identification of species; estimation of population sizes; immobilization and capture; marking techniques; telemetry and electronic technology; behaviour; killing methods; morphometrics, specimen collection and preservation; genetic-based studies for stock separation; collection of material for the determination of organochlorine and heavy metal levels; age determination; reproduction; diet; bioenergetics; and development of technology and research needs. There is a final chapter of appendices, three dealing with names of seals and other mammals, three stating the conservation measures established under the Antarctic Treaty, and one giving the SCAR Code of Conduct for Use of Animals for Scientific Purposes in Antarctica.
Antarctic seals: research methods and techniques.
Edited by R M Laws on behalf of the SCAR Group of Specialists on Seals. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1993, 390pp. ISBN 0 521 44302 4.
Southern Ocean Ecology: the BIOMASS Perspective
This is the proceedings volume of the BIOMASS Colloquium that was held in Bremerhaven, Germany, during September 1991. The aim of the Colloquium was to review and summarize the results of almost 15 years of marine biological research in the Southern Ocean under the BIOMASS programme.
The volume is arranged in six sections: Antarctic marine environment-physical oceanography; Antarctic marine stocks -phytoplankton and zooplankton; Antarctic marine stocks - krill; Antarctic marine stocks-fish and birds; Antarctic marine systems; Future development. There is an introduction "History, organization and accomplishments of the BIOMASS programme" by Professor El-Sayed, and a closing section "Critical appraisal of the BIOMASS programme" by Professor G E Fogg. The six main sections comprise a total of 20 papers and there is a discussants report at the end of each of these sections.
Southern Ocean ecology: the BIOMASS perspective.
Edited by S Z El-Sayed on behalf of the SCAR BIOMASS Programme. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1994, 399pp. ISBN 0 521 44332 6.
Recent Progress in Antarctic Earth Science
This is the proceedings volume of the Sixth International Symposium on Antarctic Earth Sciences held in Saitama, Japan, during September 1991. It contains 100 papers selected from the 264 papers and posters presented at the symposium. The book is divided into five sections on: 1. Crustal evolution: East Antarctic Shield; 2. Crustal Evolution: Transantarctic Mountains and West Antarctica; 3. Syn-and Post-Breakup of Gondwana; 4.Recent Tectonics of Antarctic Peninsula and Subantarctic Regions; 5 Terrestrial Geophysics.
The arrangement of the book and the selection of paper reflects both the aim of the geological community to have more focused meetings than in the past and the particular interests of Japanese geologists working in Antarctica. The book includes a number of review papers as well as many papers reporting the results of specific research studies. Thus the magmatic and tectonic history of the continent is well-described and this is related in section 3 to the former position of Antarctica within Gondwana. The last section on terrestrial geophysics includes papers that use remote-sensing techniques to amplify the findings of traditional geological studies on exposed surfaces. As a whole, the book provides a compilation of recent geological research on the tectonic and crustal evolution of Antarctica.
Recent progress in Antarctic earth science.
Edited by Y Yoshida, K Kaminuma and K Shiraishi. Tokyo, Terra Scientific Publishing Company (TERRAPUB), 1992, 796pp.
Appendix I
SCAR EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
(March 1994)
President:
Dr R M Laws CBE FRS
St Edmund's College, Cambridge, CB3 0BN, United Kingdom.
Telephone: +44 223 350398; Fax: +44 223 336549
Past President:
Dr C Lorius
Laboratoire de Glaciologie et de Géophysique de l'Environnement, Domaine Universitaire BP 96, 38402 St-Martin-d'Heres Cedex, France.
Telephone: +33 76 51 53 49; Fax: +33 76 51 32 48
Vice-Presidents:
Prof C R Bentley
Geophysical and Polar Research Center, University of Wisconsin, Weeks Hall, 1215 West Dayton Street, Madison, Wisconsin 53076-1692, USA.
Telephone: +1 608 262 1922; Fax: +1 608 262 0693
Dr Z Dong
451 Shangchuan Road, Pudong, Shanghai 200 129, China.
Telephone: +86 21 884 7149; Fax: +86 21 884 7401
Dr C A Rinaldi
Instituto Antártico Argentino, Cerrito 1248, Buenos Aires 1010, Argentina.
Telephone: +54 1 812 1689; Fax: +54 1 812 2039
Secretary:
Prof K Birkenmajer
Instytut Nauk Geologicznych, PAN ul Senacka 3, 31-002 Kraków, Poland.
Telephone: +48 12 22 89 20; Fax: +48 12 22 16 09
Chairman of COMNAP:
Ing M Zucchelli
ENEA, CRE CASSACCIA, PO Box 2400, 00100 Roma AD, Italy.
Telephone: +39 6 30484939; Fax: +39 6 30484893
Executive Secretary:
Dr P D Clarkson
Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research, Scott Polar Research Institute, Lensfield Road, Cambridge, CB2 1 ER, United Kingdom.
Telephone: +44 223 62061; Fax: +44 223 336549
Appendix 2
MEMBERSHIP OF SCAR
(November 1993)
Full members: Date of admission to Date of admission
Associate membership to Full Membership
Argentina 3 February 1958
Australia 3 February 1958
Belgium 3 February 1958
Chile 3 February 1958
France 3 February 1958
Japan 3 February 1958
New Zealand 3 February 1958
Norway 3 February 1958
South Africa 3 February 1958
Russia (Formerly Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) 3 February 1958
United Kingdom 3 February 1958
United States of America 3 February 1958
Germany (now including former 22 May 1978
German Democratic Republic)
Poland 22 May 1978
India 1 October 1984
Brazil 1 October 1984
China 23 June 1986
Sweden (24 March 1987) 12 September 1988
Italy (19 May 1987) 12 September 1988
Uruguay (29 July 1987) 12 September 1988
Spain (15 January 1987) 23 July 1990
Netherlands (20 May 1987) 23 July 1990
Korea, Republic of (18 December 1987) 23 July 1990
Finland (1 July 1988) 23 July 1990
Ecuador (12 September 1988) 15 June 1992
Associate Members:
Peru 14 April 1987
Switzerland 16 June 1987
Colombia 23 July 1990
Estonia 15 June 1992
Pakistan 15 June 1992
ICSU Union Members
IGU International Geographical Union
IUBS International Union of Biological Sciences
IUGG International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics
IUGS International Union of Geological Sciences
IUPAC International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry
IUPS International Union of Physiological Sciences
URSI Union Radio Scientifique Internationale
Appendix 3
SCAR CODE OF CONDUCT FOR
USE OF ANIMALS FOR SCIENTIFIC PURPOSES
IN ANTARCTICA
PREAMBLE
RECOGNIZING that Man has a moral obligation to respect all animals and to have due consideration for their capacity for suffering and memory:
ACCEPTING nevertheless that Man in his quest for knowledge has a need to use animals where there is a reasonable expectation that the result will provide a significant advance in knowledge or be of overall benefit for animals;
RESOLVED to limit the use of animals for experimental and other scientific purposes, with the aim of replacing such use wherever practical, in particular by seeking alternative measures and encouraging the use of these alternative measures;
DESIRING to adopt common provisions in order to protect animals used in those procedures which may possibly cause pain, suffering, distress or lasting harm and to ensure that where unavoidable they shall be kept to a minimum;
SCAR has adopted a code of conduct which is based on the international guiding principles for biomedical research involving animals as developed by the Council for International Organization of Medical Sciences.
CODE OF CONDUCT
I. The advancement of biological knowledge and the development of improved means to the protection of the health and well-being both of man and of the animals require recourse to experimentation on intact live mammals and birds of a wide variety of species.
II. Methods such as mathematical models, computer simulation and in vitro biological systems should be used wherever appropriate.
III. Animal experiments should be undertaken only after due consideration of their relevance for human or animal health and the advancement of biological knowledge.
IV. The animals selected for an experiment should be of an appropriate species and quality, and be minimum number required to obtain scientifically valid results.
V. Investigators and other personnel should never fail to treat animals as sentient, and should regard their proper care and use and the avoidance or minimization of discomfort, distress, or pain as ethical imperatives.
VI. Investigators should assume that procedures that would cause pain in human beings cause pain in other mammals and in birds.
VII. Procedures with animals that may cause more than momentary or minimal pain or distress should be performed with appropriate sedation, analgesia, or anaesthesia in accordance with accepted veterinary practice. Surgical or other painful procedures should not be performed on unanaesthetized animals paralyzed by chemical agents.
VIII. Where waivers are required in relation to the provisions of article VII, the decisions should not rest solely with the investigators directly concerned but should be made, with due regard to the provisions of articles IV, V and VI, by a suitably constituted review body. Such waivers should not be made solely for the purposes of teaching or demonstration.
IX. At the end, or when appropriate, during an experiment animals that would otherwise suffer severe or chronic pain, distress, discomfort, or disablement that cannot be relieved should be painlessly killed.
X. The best possible living conditions and supervision should be maintained for animals kept for biomedical purposes.
XI. It is the responsibility of the director of an institute or department using animals to ensure that investigators and personnel have appropriate qualifications or experience for conducting procedures on animals. Adequate opportunities shall be provided for inservice training, including the proper and humane concern for the animals under their care.
Appendix 4
Recommendation SCAR XXII-1
On Protection of Geological Specimens
RECALLING the commitment to environmental protection under the Antarctic Treaty;
RECOGNIZING the increasing frequency of non-scientific activities in Antarctica; and
RECOGNIZING further the consequent possible loss of scientifically valuable geological specimens;
MINDFUL of the possible consequences of identifying the location of such geological specimens through formal site protection;
NOTING the likelihood of further discoveries of such specimens;
SCAR recommends that:
1. Geological specimens, such as fossils, minerals, meteorites, volcanic bombs and ventifacts in Antarctica should be collected for scientific or educational purposes and not for commercial gain;
2. Geological samples collected from Antarctica for these purposes should be properly curated in institutions accessible to the scientific community and, wherever possible, should be publicly displayed.
Appendix 5
Acronyms and Abbreviations
ADD Antarctic Digital Database
ADDS Antarctic Data Directory System
AMD Antarctic Master Directory
APIS Antarctic Pack Ice Seals programme
ATCM Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting
BAS Biological Investigations of Marine Antarctic Systems
and Stocks
CCAMLR Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine
Living Resources
CCAS Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Seals
CD-ROM Compact Disc - Read-only memory
CEMP CCAMLR Ecosystem Monitoring Programme
CEP Committee for environmental Protection
COMNAP Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programmes
CS-EASIZ Coastal and Shelf - EASIZ
EASIZ Ecology of the Antarctic Sea-ice Zone
GLOBEC Global Ocean Ecosystems Dynamics Research
GLOCHANT Group of Specialists on Global Change and the Antarctic
GOSEAC Group of Specialists on Environmental Affairs and
Conservation
GOSSOE Group of Specialists on Southern Ocean Ecology
IASC International Arctic Science Committee
ICSU International Council of Scientific Unions
IGBP International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme
IGU International Geographical Union
IHB International Hydrographic Bureau
IUBS International Union of Biological Sciences
IUCN International Union for the Conservation of Nature
(World Conservation Union)
IUGG International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics
IUGS International Union of Geological Sciences
IUPAC International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry
IUPS International Union of Physiological Sciences
IWC International Whaling Commission
JGOFS Joint Global Ocean Flux Study
PAGES Past Global Environments
PC Personal Computer
RRC Regional Research Centre
SCALOP Standing Committee on Antarctic Logistics and
Operations
SCAR Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research
SCOR Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research
SO-GLOBEC Southern Ocean GLOBEC
SO-JGOFS Southern Ocean JGOFS
SPRI Scott Polar Research Institute
SSSI Site of Special Scientific Interest
START System for Analysis, Research and Training
URSI Union Radio Scientifique Internationale
UV Ultra Violet
WCMC World Conservation Monitoring Centre
WCRP World Climate Research Programme