Environmental management and stewardship practices in Antarctic science and tourism: do they align with environmental concerns?

Daniela Cajiao; Pablo  Tejedo; Bas  Amelung; Javier Benayas; Machiel Lamers

doi:10.33265/polar.v44.10934

Daniela Cajiao Environmental Policy Group, Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0816-2138
Pablo Tejedo Departamento de Ecología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1865-0445
Bas Amelung Environmental Systems Analysis Group, Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8501-9787
Javier Benayas Departamento de Ecología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5906-9569
Machiel Lamers Environmental Policy Group, Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4189-3066

DOI: https://doi.org/10.33265/polar.v44.10934

Keywords: Environmental protection, conservation, science operations, tourism, introduction of non-native species

Abstract

In the Antarctic Peninsula, tourism and science operations are interconnected and overlap spatially and temporally, sharing practices aimed at reducing and mitigating the human footprint. Guided by the concepts of environmental management and environmental stewardship, we examined how these environmental practices address the various types of environmental impacts generated by these operations. For this, we categorized the environmental impacts identified in the literature and conducted an expert survey to assess which of these impact categories are the most concerning. Then, we consulted the Inspection Reports of the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Parties, tour operators’ annual reports and documents from the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators to capture environmental management and stewardship practices. Finally, we evaluated to what extent these practices address the categories of impacts. We identified 68 environmental practices for science and 63 for tourism operations. We classified them into nine categories, which range from mitigating soil and water contamination to limiting landscape modifications, minimizing impacts on flora, fauna and ecosystems and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. We identified a significant number of practices addressing local and specific impact categories. In contrast, a smaller number of practices were identified for the impacts that are most concerning in terms of their geographical scale, duration and severity, according to our experts’ survey. We discuss that the number of practices does not reflect their effectiveness, and the positive influence of some practices in building formal management instruments. Greater collaboration among stakeholders will improve the protection of the Antarctic continent.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Bastmeijer K., Lamers M. & Harcha J. 2008. Permanent land-based facilities for tourism in Antarctica: the need for regulation. Review of European Community and International Environmental Law 17, 84–99, doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9388.2008.00585.x.

Bastmeijer K., Shibata A., Steinhage I., Ferrada L.V. & Bloom E.T. 2023. Regulating Antarctic tourism: the challenge of consensus-based decision making. American Journal of International Law 117, 651–676, doi: 10.1017/ajil.2023.34.

Bender N.A., Crosbie K. & Lynch H.J. 2016. Patterns of tourism in the Antarctic Peninsula region: a 20-year analysis. Antarctic Science 28, 194–203, doi: 10.1017/S0954102016000031.

Bennett N.J., Roth R., Klain S.C., Chan K., Christie P., Clark D.A., Cullman G., Curran D., Durbin T.J., Epstein G., Greenberg A., Nelson M.P., Sandlos J., Stedman R., Teel T.L., Thomas R., Veríssimo D. & Wyborn C. 2017. Conservation social science: understanding and integrating human dimensions to improve conservation. Biological Conservation 205, 93–108, doi: 10.1016/j.biocon.2016.10.006.

Brooks S.T., Jabour J., van den Hoff J. & Bergstrom D.M. 2019. Our footprint on Antarctica competes with nature for rare ice-free land. Nature Sustainability 2, 185–190, doi: 10.1038/s41893-019-0237-y.

Brooks S.T., Tejedo P. & O’Neill T.A. 2019. Insights on the environmental impacts associated with visible disturbance of ice-free ground in Antarctica. Antarctic Science 31, 304–314, doi: 10.1017/S0954102019000440.

Burrows J.L., Lee J.R. & Wilson K.A. 2023. Evaluating the conservation impact of Antarctica’s protected areas. Conservation Biology 37, e14059, doi: 10.1111/cobi.14059.

Cajiao D., Benayas J. & Tejedo P. 2021. Adaptive management of sustainable tourism in Antarctica: a rhetoric or working progress? Sustainability 13, article no. 7649, doi: 10.3390/su13147649.

Cajiao D., Leung Y.F., Larson L.R., Tejedo P. & Benayas J. 2022. Tourists’ motivations, learning, and trip satisfaction facilitate pro-environmental outcomes of the Antarctic tourist experience. Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism 37, article no. 100454, doi: 10.1016/j.jort.2021.100454.

Cajiao D., Tejedo P., Aase J., Benayas J., Vereda M., Obermann A., Lamers M. & Amelung B. 2025. The carbon footprint of Antarctic tourism: an update of carbon emissions based on satellite Automatic Identification System (AIS) data. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, doi: 10.1080/09669582.2025.2542823.

Committee for Environmental Protection 2019. Non-native species manual. Buenos Aires: Secretariat of the Antarctic Treaty.

Chignell S.M., Myers M.E., Howkins A. & Fountain A.G. 2021. Research sites get closer to field camps over time: informing environmental management through a geospatial analysis of science in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica. PLoS One 16, e0257950, doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0257950.

Coetzee B.W.T. & Chown S.L. 2016. A meta-analysis of human disturbance impacts on Antarctic wildlife. Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society 91, 578–596, doi: 10.1111/brv.12184.

Convey P., Hughes K.A. & Tin T. 2012. Continental governance and environmental management mechanisms under the Antarctic Treaty System: sufficient for the biodiversity challenges of this century? Biodiversity 13, 234–248, doi: 10.1080/14888386.2012.703551.

COMNAP 2017. Antarctic station catalogue. Christchurch: Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programs Secretariat.

Crossin E., Verghese K., Lockrey S., Ha H. & Young G. 2020. The environmental impacts of operating an Antarctic research station. Journal of Industrial Ecology 24, 791–803, doi: 10.1111/jiec.12972.

Cusick A., Gilmore R., Bombosch A., Mascioni M., Almandoz G. & Vernet M. 2020. Polar tourism as an effective research tool: citizen science in the western Antarctic Peninsula. Oceanography 33, 1–59, doi: 10.5670/oceanog.2020.101.

Dunn M.J., Forcada J., Jackson J.A., Waluda C.M., Nichol C. & Trathan P.N. 2019. A long-term study of gentoo penguin (Pygoscelis papua) population trends at a major Antarctic tourist site, Goudier Island, Port Lockroy. Biodiversity and Conservation 28, 37–53, doi: 10.1007/s10531-018-1635-6.

Elshout P., Chappellaz J., Gibéryen T., Hansen C., Jania J., Jones-Williams K., Nolan J., Reverdy B., Topp-Jørgensen E., Yılmaz A. & Badhe R. 2023. Synthesis report on the environmental impacts of polar research and logistics in the polar regions. The Hague: European Polar Board.

Farreny R., Oliver-Solà J., Lamers M., Amelung B., Gabarrell X., Rieradevall J., Boada M. & Benayas J. 2011. Carbon dioxide emissions of Antarctic tourism. Antarctic Science 23, 556–566, doi: 10.1017/S0954102011000435.

Gössling S. & Peeters P. 2015. Assessing tourism’s global environmental impact 1900–2050. Journal of Sustainable Tourism 23, 639–659, doi: 10.1080/09669582.2015.1008500.

Griffiths H.J., Meijers A.J. & Bracegirdle T.J. 2017. More losers than winners in a century of future Southern Ocean seafloor warming. Nature Climate Change 7, 749–754, doi: 10.1038/NCLIMATE3377.

Haase D., Lamers M. & Amelung B. 2009. Heading into uncharted territory? Exploring the institutional robustness of self-regulation in the Antarctic tourism sector. Journal of Sustainable Tourism 17, 411–430, doi: 10.1080/09669580802495717.

Hodgson-Johnston I., Jackson A., Jabour J. & Press A. 2017. Cleaning up after human activity in Antarctica: legal obligations and remediation realities. Restoration Ecology 25, 135–139, doi: 10.1111/rec.12382.

Holmes N.D. 2007. Comparing king, gentoo, and royal penguin responses to pedestrian visitation. Journal of Wildlife Management 71, 2575–2582, doi: 10.2193/2005-715.

Hughes K. 2013. Measuring the impact of viewing wildlife: do positive intentions equate to long-term changes in conservation behaviour? Journal of Sustainable Tourism 21, 42–59, doi: 10.1080/09669582.2012.681788.

Hughes K.A., Boyle C.P., Morley-Hurst K., Gerrish L., Colwell S.R. & Convey P. 2023. Loss of research and operational equipment in Antarctica: balancing scientific advances with environmental impact. Journal of Environmental Management 348, 119200. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.119200

Hughes K.A. & Convey P. 2010. The protection of Antarctic terrestrial ecosystems from inter- and intra-continental transfer of non-indigenous species by human activities: a review of current systems and practices. Global Environmental Change 20, 96–112, doi: 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2009.09.005.

Hughes K.A., Convey P., Pertierra L.R., Vega G.C., Aragón P. & Olalla-Tárraga M. 2019. Human-mediated dispersal of terrestrial species between Antarctic biogeographic regions: a preliminary risk assessment. Journal of Environmental Management 232, 73–89, doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2018.10.095.

Hughes K.A., Lowther A., Gilbert N., Waluda C.M. & Lee J.R. 2023. Communicating the best available science to inform Antarctic policy and management: a practical introduction for researchers. Antarctic Science 35, 438–472, doi: 10.1017/S095410202300024X.

Hughes K.A., Pertierra L.R., Molina-Montenegro M.A. & Convey P. 2015. Biological invasions in terrestrial Antarctica: what is the current status and can we respond? Biodiversity and Conservation 24, 1031–1055, doi: 10.1007/s10531-015-0896-6.

Hughes K.A., Pescott O.L., Peyton J., Adriaens T., Cottier-Cook E.J., Key G., Rabitsch W., Tricarico E., Barnes D.K.A., Baxter N., Belchier M., Blake D., Convey P., Dawson W., Frohlich D., Gardiner L.M., González-Moreno P., James R., Malumphy C., Martin S., Martinou A.F., Minchin D., Monaco A., Moore N., Morley S.A., Ross K., Shanklin J., Turvey K., Vaughan D., Vaux A.G.C., Werenkraut V., Winfield I.J. & Roy H.E. 2020. Invasive non-native species likely to threaten biodiversity and ecosystems in the Antarctic Peninsula region. Global Change Biology 26, 2702–2716, doi: 10.1111/gcb.14938.

IAATO (International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators) 2024a. IAATO overview of Antarctic vessel tourism: the 2023–24 season and preliminary estimates for 2024–25. IAATO ATCM Information Paper 102 Accessed on the internet at https://iaato.org/antarctic-treaty/iaato-atcm-information-papers/information-papers-archive on 8 April 2025.

IAATO (International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators) 2024b. IAATO field operations manual. Information Paper 106. Accessed on the internet at https://iaato.org/antarctic-treaty/iaato-atcm-information-papers/information-papers-archive on 8 April 2025.

IAATO (International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators) n.d. Visitor Guidelines Library. Accessed on the internet at https://iaato.org/visiting-antarctica/visitor-guidelines-library/ on 14 June 2024.

Lee J.R., Terauds A., Carwardine J., Shaw J.D., Fuller R.A., Possingham H.P., Chown S.L., Convey P., Gilbert N., Hughes K.A., McIvor E., Robinson S.A., Ropert-Coudert Y., Bergstrom D.M., Biermsa E.M., Christian C., Cowan D.A., Frenot Y., Jenouvrier S., Kelley L., Lee M.J., Lynch H.J., Njåstad B., Quesada A., Roura R.M., Shaw E.A., Stanwell-Smith D., Tsujimoto M., Hall D.H., Wilmotte A. & Chadès I. 2022. Threat management priorities for conserving Antarctic biodiversity. PLoS Biology 20, e3001921, doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3001921.

Lamers M., Liggett D. & Amelung B. 2012. Strategic challenges of tourism development and governance in Antarctica: taking stock and moving forward. Polar Research 31, article no. 17219, doi: 10.3402/polar.v31i0.17219.

Lamers M., Steins N.A. & van Bets L. 2024. Combining polar cruise tourism and science practices. Annals of Tourism Research 107, article no. 103794, doi: 10.1016/j.annals.2024.103794.

Leane E., Lucas C., Marx K., Datta D., Nielsen H. & Salazar J.F. 2021. From gateway to custodian city: understanding urban residents’ sense of connectedness to Antarctica. Geographical Research 59, 522–536, doi: 10.1111/1745-5871.12490.

Leihy R.I., Coetzee B.W.T., Morgan F., Raymond B., Shaw J.D., Terauds A., Bastmeijer K. & Chown S.L. 2020. Antarctica’s wilderness fails to capture the continent’s biodiversity. Nature 583, 567–571, doi: 10.1038/s41586-020-2506-3.

Li G., Li W., Dou Y. & Wei Y. 2022. Antarctic shipborne tourism: carbon emission and mitigation path. Energies 15, article no. 7837, doi: 10.3390/en15217837.

Liggett D., Cajiao D., Lamers M., Leung Y.-F. & Stewart E.J. 2023. The future of sustainable polar ship-based tourism. Cambridge Prisms: Coastal Futures 1, e21, doi: 10.1017/cft.2023.10.

Liggett, D., Frame B., Gilbert N. & Morgan F. 2017. Is it all going south? Four future scenarios for Antarctica. Polar Record 53, 459–478, doi: 10.1017/S0032247417000390.

Makanse Y. 2024. Contextualising Antarctic tourism diversification: tourism management implications from multinational policy debates. The Polar Journal 14, 270–313, doi: 10.1080/2154896X.2024.2342113.

Mathevet R., Bousquet F. & Raymond C.M. 2018. The concept of stewardship in sustainability science and conservation biology. Biological Conservation 217, 363–370, doi: 10.1016/j.biocon.2017.10.015.

McCarthy A.H., Peck L.S. & Aldridge D.C. 2022. Ship traffic connects Antarctica’s fragile coasts to worldwide ecosystems. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 119, e2110303118, doi: 10.1073/pnas.2110303118.

National Science Foundation n.d. U.S. Antarctic environmental stewardship. Accessed on the internet at https://www.nsf.gov/geo/opp/antarct/eas/start.jsp on 30 May 2024.

O’Neill T.A. 2017. Protection of Antarctic soil environments: a review of the current issues and future challenges for the Environmental Protocol. Environmental Science and Policy 76, 153–164, doi: 10.1016/j.envsci.2017.06.017.

Rogan-Finnemore M., Ojeda M., Paz Acosta J.M., Bretel P., Browne N., Flått S., Shuoren W. & Sliester R. 2021. Icebreaking polar class research vessels: new Antarctic fleet capabilities. Polar Record 57, e46, doi: 10.1017/S003224742100067X.

Roura R.M. & Hemmings A.D. 2011. Realising strategic environmental assessment in Antarctica. Journal of Environmental Assessment Policy and Management 13, 483–514, doi: 10.1142/S1464333211003973.

Ruoppolo V., Woehler E.J., Morgan K. & Clumpner C.J. 2013. Wildlife and oil in the Antarctic: a recipe for cold disaster. Polar Record 49, 97–109, doi: 10.1017/S0032247411000763.

Siegert M.J., Bentley M.J., Atkinson A., Bracegirdle T.J., Convey P., Davies B., Downie R., Hogg A.E., Holmes C., Hughes K.A., Meredith M.P., Ross N., Rumble J. & Wilkinson J. 2023. Antarctic extreme events. Frontiers in Environmental Science 11, 1229283, doi: 10.3389/fenvs.2023.1229283.

Summerson R. & Bishop I.D. 2012. The impact of human activities on wilderness and aesthetic values in Antarctica. Polar Research 31, article no. 10858, doi: 10.3402/polar.v31i0.10858.

Teetz H.W., Harms T.M. & von Backström T.W. 2003. Assessment of the wind power potential at SANAE IV base, Antarctica: a technical and economic feasibility study. Renewable Energy 28, 2037–2061, doi: 10.1016/S0960-1481(03)00076-4.

Tejedo P., Benayas J., Cajiao D., Leung Y.F., De Filippo D. & Liggett D. 2022. What are the real environmental impacts of Antarctic tourism? Unveiling their importance through a comprehensive meta-analysis. Journal of Environmental Management 308, article no. 114634. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.114634.

Terauds A., Chown S.L., Morgan F., Peat H.J., Watts D.J., Keys H., Convey P. & Bergstrom D.M. 2012. Conservation biogeography of the Antarctic. Diversity and Distributions 18, 726–741, doi: 10.1111/j.1472-4642.2012.00925.x.

Tian Z., Fu F., Niu J., Sun R. & Huang J. 2020. Optimization and extraction of an operation strategy for the distributed energy system of a research station in Antarctica. Journal of Cleaner Production 246, article no. 119073, doi: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.119073.

Tin T., Fleming Z.L., Hughes K.A., Ainley D.G., Convey P., Moreno C.A., Pfeiffer S., Scott J. & Snape I. 2009. Impacts of local human activities on the Antarctic environment. Antarctic Science 21, 3–33, doi: 10.1017/S0954102009001722.

Tin T., Sovacool B.K., Blake D., Magill P., El Naggar S., Lidstrom S., Ishizawa K. & Berte J. 2010. Energy efficiency and renewable energy under extreme conditions: case studies from Antarctica. Renewable Energy 35, 1715–1723, doi: 10.1016/j.renene.2009.10.020.

Tort L.F.L., Iglesias K., Bueno C., Lizasoain A., Salvo M., Cristina J., Kandratavicius N., Pérez L., Figueira R., Bícego M.C., Taniguchi S., Venturini N., Brugnoli E., Colina R. & Victoria M. 2017. Wastewater contamination in Antarctic melt-water streams evidenced by virological and organic molecular markers. Science of the Total Environment 609, 225–231, doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.07.127.