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ANTARCTICA’s fragile environment is under threat from tourism, scientists warned yesterday.
Tourist numbers have exploded from fewer than 5,000 in 1990 to about 40,000 in 2013.
Most people go to the ice-free areas that make up less than 1 per cent of Antarctica.
It is these areas which contain most of the continent’s wildlife and plants, yet they are among the planet’s least-protected, said Australia’s National Environmental Research Programme (Nerp).
“Many people think Antarctica is protected because it’s isolated and no-one lives there,” said Nerp’s Dr Justine Shaw.
“However, there are threats to biodiversity. Only 1.5 per cent of the ice-free area belongs to Antarctic specially protected areas.”
Biologist Steven Chown said the ice-free areas contained wildlife and plants vulnerable to invasion by outside species introduced by human activity.
Both scientists agreed the current level of protection was “inadequate by any measure.”
