The Future of the Antarctic Treaty

[@tinaedwards7840]

My dad was one of the us members of 1961 treaty. He was to spend 3 years At Murdock center. I have some crazy photos. Also think there must be a reason my dad taught me at 7 years old my multiplication on a slide ruler. And it has to do with Antarctica and its secrets. My dad died when I was 18 not old enough to see something else.

[@jenniferkoplin13]

I'd be interested to hear more.

[@tinaedwards7840]

I have some crazy photos from murdock. My dad spent 3 years too

[@garrissherman2859]

I'm sorry if you answer this later in the video, I don't have the time to watch the whole thing. I'm not exactly sure what you would call it but what entity is the official "law enforcement" in Antarctica? Do each member of the treaty handle their own people, or is there a agreed upon entity that oversee all Antarctic operations are abiding the treaty accordingly?

[@ukantarcticheritagetrust]

Thanks for your question. The following is on the Antarctic Treaty website "To promote the objectives of the Treaty and to ensure that the provisions of the Antarctic Treaty are observed, Parties are obliged to inform each other of their activities in Antarctica and facilitate inspections by other Parties of their facilities. Both matters are dealt with in Article VII, which provides that each Consultative Party shall have the right to designate observers to carry out inspections under the Treaty." For further information see www.ats.aq/e/peaceful.html

[@garrissherman2859]

@@ukantarcticheritagetrust Thank you. I've read that US Marshals were stationed there at one point (I don't know if they still are) but I thought surely they don't have any jurisdiction on stations belonging to other members. Thanks again for the clarification.

[@tinaedwards7840]

My dad was part of there treaty signing

[@JudoKnowles]

Obviously there's no infrastructure at all, but could your average individual just decide to go and explore if they had the funds or would that be illegal? I always got the feeling it wasn't allowed, but who's to say I can't travel to a country without a government and build a house if I so chose. Pretty sure I personally would die in hours, but am I correct in my assumption this isn't allowed? What if a country did not agree to this and they decide to explore it? Seems unlikely that we have the same conservation and research goals as Iran, North Korea or many others.

[@ukantarcticheritagetrust]

All activity in Antarctica requires a permit from the government of one of the treaty parties, and this is enforced by other parties inspecting the activities on the ground. Should any activity be unpermitted or transgresses the terms of the Antarctic Treaty and its protocols then there could be a prosecution under the domestic Antarctic legislation - in the UK this would be the Antarctic Act, 2013 - which puts the treaty into English law. We do occasionally see unpermitted travel to Antarctica and it is soon reported to the treaty system and to the nation under whose flag the vessel travels. Fortunately the treaty system does work and these occurrences are extremely few. As you rightly suggest the greatest barrier to this is the inaccessibility and inhospitable nature of Antarctica - large costs and large risks.