GREENPEACE APPLAUDS ANTARCTIC PROTECTION VICTORY

Amsterdam, 14 January 1998

Greenpeace hailed today's entry into force of the Antarctic Environmental (Madrid) Protocol as a milestone victory in global environmental protection. The Protocol became international law following formal ratification by Japan, the last of the 26 Antarctic Treaty Member nations to do so.

"This outstanding success vindicates over 10 years of Greenpeace campaigning to protect Antarctica as a global wilderness and scientific laboratory," said Iain Reddish, Greenpeace International's Antarctic campaigner.

The Protocol bans all mining and mineral exploitation in Antarctica for a minimum of 50 years and establishes a compulsory permit procedure for all visits to Antarctica, including both tourist and government expeditions. It also establishes strict legally-binding measures covering the conservation of flora and fauna, marine pollution and waste disposal.

Greenpeace -- which led by example in establishing its own minimal impact World Park Antarctic base for five years (1987-1991) -- campaigned with other environmental groups for over 15 years to focus world attention on Antarctica, in order to reverse a decision made by Antarctic Treaty nations to allow mining in the world's last untouched continent.

With 70 per cent of the world's fresh water reserves, Antarctica is the vital engine which drives much of our global climate. It is also a pure outdoor laboratory and is one of the few places where global pollution can be measured. Antarctic ecosystems are so fragile that a footprint on a mossbed may remain for a decade.

But while the continent itself is now protected, the vast Southern Ocean is facing new threats. Japan continues to kill several hundred minke whales each year, in spite of the worldwide moratorium and declared whale sanctuary. Fleets of longliners are now scouring the sea for the lucrative patagonian toothfish and southern bluefin tuna, killing hundreds of thousands of sharks and tens of thousands of albatross in the process.

"At the start of the UN Year of the Ocean, governments must commit themselves to extending the protection now given to the Antarctic continent to the Souther Ocean," Reddish said. "The Environment Protocol is a much welcome first step, but while the Antarctic ecosystem remains at risk from sea-borne plunder, Greenpeace's work in the region is far from over."

Notes to Editors

The 26 Antarctic Treaty Member States are as follows, with the date of individual national Antarctic Protocol ratifications in brackets:

Argentina	(October, 1993)
Australia	(April, 1994)
Belgium	(April, 1996)
Brazil	(August, 1995)
Chile	(January, 1995)
China	(August, 1994)
Ecuador	(January, 1993)
Finland	(November, 1996)
France	(February ,1993)
Germany	(November, 1994)
India	(April, 1996)
Italy	(March, 1995)
Japan	(December, 1997)
Korea	(January, 1996)
Netherlands	(April, 1994)
New Zealand	(December, 1994)
Norway	(June, 1993)
Peru	(March, 1993)
Poland	(November, 1995)
Russia	(August, 1997)
S. Africa	(August, 1993)
Spain	(July, 1992)
Sweden	(March, 1994)
UK	(April, 1995)
US	(April, 1997)
Uruguay	(January, 1995)

For further information contact....

Ian Reddish, ++31 20 523 6253; or
James Gillies, Press Officer ++ 31 20 524 9548