Standing on the deck of an expedition cruise ship as you arrive at the Antarctic Peninsula, don’t look for any flag flying high over the territory. It doesn’t have one. Research bases fly the flags of their nations and when visitors arrive on expedition cruise ships they proudly wave banners to celebrate landing on the Seventh Continent. But Antarctica is not a country. Despite being a continent the size of Australia, no-one actually lives here. You don’t even have to show your passport except in any country you’re transiting through to get there.
Antarctica simultaneously belongs to no country and the entire world. In a world of competing nations and increasingly isolationist policies, it feels like an anomaly. But if no one owns Antarctica, how is it protected? And how are activities – from science to tourism – regulated there? For that, we can thank the Antarctic Treaty, signed over 60 years ago during an equally challenging period of international politics.
A history of the Antarctic Treaty
In the first half of the 20th century, there was an international scramble for Antarctica. There had been a nationalistic race for the South Pole, followed by a series of expeditions that never made the headlines but dutifully started to fill out the blank spaces on the map. By the start of the Second World War, several nations had gone as far as making formal territorial claims. Antarctica was divided up like slices of cake, and several countries even demanded the same piece. The Antarctic Peninsula was claimed by Great Britain, Argentina and Chile.
Yet in the late 1950s at the height of the Cold War, science offered a different way forward. through the International Geophysical Year, a comprehensive study of the Earth, its poles and atmosphere. Antarctica could almost have been the Moon for all that was known about it, and getting scientists from competing nations to collaborate for the global good was an astonishing achievement. Diplomats agreed that during the year (which actually ran for 18 months from the middle of 1957 to the end of 1958 to account for the short polar seasons), all territorial claims to Antarctica would be put aside.
The Antarctic Treaty recognised the value of the continent as a neutral space at a time of international tension.
The great success of the International Geophysical Year led to the negotiation of the Antarctic Treaty, which recognised the value of the continent as a neutral space at a time of international tension. Twelve countries—Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Chile, France, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States—came together to draft a landmark agreement. The Antarctic Treaty was signed on December 1 1959 (a date still celebrated as Antarctic Day), and came into force in June 1961. All territorial claims to the continent were permanently suspended, and Antarctica –—defined as all points south of 60° latitude—was set aside as a place for scientific cooperation, and the entire continent was demilitarised.
Environmental protection
The Antarctic Treaty was an extraordinary achievement, and in the years since a further 54 countries have also committed to protect it, with a comprehensive system known as the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS) in place to enforce its rules. But it took another 30 years for one of its most important provisions.
Today, the need to protect Antarctica’s near-pristine environment is well understood, but the attitudes during the framing of the treaty in the late 1950s were rather different. Industrial whaling in Antarctic waters was approaching its peak, and as incredible as it sounds now, the US government built a nuclear reactor at its McMurdo research base (nicknamed ‘Nukey Poo’) in the same year the Antarctic Treaty was signed. The global importance of Antarctica to the planet—and need for international cooperation on environmental matters— only entered public consciousness with the discovery of the hole in the Ozone Layer in 1985 by scientists at the British Antarctic Survey.
In 1991, on the 30th anniversary of the Treaty, signatories came together to adopt the Protocol on Environmental Protection, to put the preservation of Antarctica’s environment at the forefront of all activities on the continent. This banned the prospecting for oil or minerals in Antarctica to prevent competition for polluting resources, and put strict operational guidelines on all activities in Antarctica, from waste disposal to managing threats from invasive species. The American nuclear reactor had already been safely removed, but the protocol also meant the removal of the last sledge dogs from research bases – a constant presence since the days of the earliest explorers, but a potential risk to the fragile environment.
The Antarctic Treaty and Tourism
The Environmental Protocol also recognised a new reality for Antarctica: the small but growing polar tourism industry. All tourist activities were placed within its orbit, so that any visits to Antarctica could be regulated with the same strict environmental impact assessments as scientific research.
In 1991 the nascent polar cruise industry founded the International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators (IAATO) to better manage tourism to the continent and encourage best environmental practices. Within three years, IAATO was invited to become expert attendees at the annual meetings of the Antarctic Treaty to contribute to discussions around the management of tourism in Antarctica (Swoop Antarctica is proud to be an associate member of IAATO).
The Antarctic Treaty plays a crucial role in shaping the experience of visitors to this remote region. In 2011, it adopted its General Guidelines for Visitors to the Antarctic, which is the set of rules that govern all visits to Antarctica today.
This means that every cruise operator working in Antarctica has the correct permits, and works within strict environmental guidelines such as the disposal of waste, as well as limiting the size of ships allowed to land passengers on the continent. Most expedition cruise ships carry fewer than 250 passengers, but those with more than 500 are not allowed to operate landings and may only offer sea cruises.
There are now strict visitor guidelines drawn up for every landing site, including the maximum number of people who may be on shore at any time (normally 100, including the guiding team, though this may be smaller at some places), and rules about maintaining a respectful distance from wildlife to prevent disturbance. Where there are historic sites, like the huts left behind by Scott and Shackleton’s expeditions, the Antarctic Treaty maintains a list of designated Historic Sites & Monuments, and access is even more tightly controlled to protect them for future generations.
Looking to the future
While no one needs their passport stamped to enter Antarctic territory, the Antarctic Treaty ensures that tourism here is conducted responsibly, allowing visitors to experience the continent’s raw beauty without contributing to its degradation. This has proved essential as visitor numbers to Antarctica continue to grow.
Challenges undoubtedly remain. Tourism is not the only growth industry in Antarctica, with commercial krill fishing increasing greatly in recent years. The Ross Sea was declared a Marine Protected Area in 2016, meaning that only sustainable fishing can be carried out in its waters, but recent attempts to give the Antarctic Peninsula the same designation have stalled. International agreement at the treaty level has become even harder since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
However, the great successes of the Antarctic Treaty provide an important beacon for the future. It has not become a dusty diplomatic relic. Born out of the tensions of the Cold War, the Treaty has preserved Antarctica as a place of peace and science, allowing visitors to experience this incredible continent without leaving behind anything but footprints in the snow.
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