Reuters — A proposal to expand the world’s largest marine conservation park in Antarctica by linking it with smaller ones failed at a meeting as Russian and Chinese delegates did not endorse it, a conservationist attending the session said on Saturday (October 28).
The plan was proposed at a meeting in Hobart, Australia, on Friday (October 27) of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, which last year created the Ross Sea Marine Protected Area.
Twenty-four countries and the European Union agreed to protect 1.55 million square km (600,000 square miles) of ocean from commercial fishing for 35 years in the Ross Sea. Ross Sea, a deep bay in the Southern Ocean off Antarctica, is one of the world’s most ecologically important areas, home to penguins, whales, seabirds and colossal squid. The giant marine park becomes active on Dec. 1.
At the Hobart meeting, some commission members urged extending protection to a network of areas through East Antarctica’s Southern Ocean.
At the Hobart meeting, some commission members urged extending protection to a network of areas through East Antarctica’s Southern Ocean. However, the proposal didn’t get the needed unanimous support as Russia and China voted against it, participants said.