Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - POLARGOV (From an environmental to a resource regime? Institutional innovation for the management of Tourism and Marine Protected Areas within the Antarctic Treaty governance)

Teaser

POLARGOV proposed to research in what extent the Antarctic Treaty was able to address resource regime activities, changing from an environmental regime to a resource one. The Antarctic Treaty has so far operated successfully on a consensus decision-making basis and the...

Summary

POLARGOV proposed to research in what extent the Antarctic Treaty was able to address resource regime activities, changing from an environmental regime to a resource one. The Antarctic Treaty has so far operated successfully on a consensus decision-making basis and the suspension of sovereignty claims has set a more complex governance framework in the region. Commercial activities such as tourism and fishing, challenge the extent in which the Treaty can be acknowledged as the main governing body in the region. As both activities involve multi-level governance, POLARGOV evaluated the resilience of the Antarctic Treaty to institutional innovation when managing tourism and when designating Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). Antarctic Tourism has grown exponentially in the last years, as well as proposals for MPAs have been stagnated in the meetings of the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR).

The balance between environment protection and human activities is one of the greatest challenges of our times. Therefore the Antarctic Treaty can offer important lessons to global governance arrangements around the world. The ability to reach agreement on certain topics - such as scientific research and environmental protection - whilst manoeuvring those that would involve a sovereignty solution, it is one of the biggest achievements of the regime.

POLARGOV proposed to map the institutional evolution of Tourism and MPAs designation through the agreements reached at the Treaty, and the scholarship about both cases. POLARGOV identified the main stakeholders and attended their meetings in 2018. Through 70 interviews, POLARGOV gathered their perspective on the management of Antarctic Tourism and MPAs. At the end, POLARGOV concluded that tourism stakeholders diverge on how tourism should be managed. Although an informal public-private partnership seems to be the favoured model, there was no consensus if the International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators (IAATO) should be the leading body. Whereas MPAs stakeholders tended to support the current framework, rejecting forms of co-management.

Work performed

Work Package 1 (WP1) encompassed literature review on Tourism and MPAs, establishing the institutional evolution of both cases. Treaty’s recommendations, measures, decisions, and resolutions on the themes were gathered, enabling POLARGOV to establish how Antarctic Tourism and MPAs were progressively dealt by the Treaty. At the same time, main stakeholders were also identified. In addition, a literature review was also conducted in order to map the state-of-art of Antarctic tourism and MPAs governance, identifying institutional innovation proposals on public-private partnerships and and co-management for both cases.

Work Package 2 (WP2) focused on stakeholders’ perceptions on tourism and MPAs management. Therefore, the first fieldwork activity was conducted in Ushuaia (Argentina), and Punta Arenas (Chile) in January 2018. Interviews consisted of one part of open-ended questions, which asked stakeholders about their experience and impressions on Antarctic tourism growth and MPAs designation process. The second part of interviews used Q Methodology. With NVivo, WP1 data was organised in a set of statements which were presented to stakeholders for their evaluation.

In April POLARGOV organised the Polar Governance Workshop which took place at the Royal Geographical Society. A newsletter with pictures and a summary of the event was shared with participants. POLARGOV also presented two papers at the 59th International Studies Association Annual Conference.

In May, a second fieldwork took place during the Annual Meeting of IAATO. Also in May, the project’s logo, website and twitter account were launched. In June, POLARGOV presented another paper at the 35th Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research Biennial Meetings.

POLARGOV initiated WP2 for MPAs during the Workshop on Spatial Management and the Working Group in Ecosystem Monitoring and Management in July. POLARGOV also presented at the 25th World Congress of Political Science. This paper was later developed into a peer-reviewed publication published by the Australian Journal of Maritime and Ocean Affairs in March 2019.

In September, the first seminar of the project was organised at the University of São Paulo (Brazil). In October, more interviews were conducted during the 37th Meetings of CCAMLR. As many contacts were established during the event, final interviews were scheduled for the end of the year.

In December, POLARGOV organised a Politics and International Relations outreach session with the Higher Education Outreach Network (HEON). Thomas Knyvett College students visited Royal Holloway, University of London for a diplomatic decision-making game on MPAs and fishing zones.

For Work Package 3 (WP3) Q Methodology scores were analysed and interpreted in January 2019, focusing on stakeholders’ views on the openness, operability and compliance to the Antarctic Treaty. Tourism stakeholders were identified as cooperative, conservative, protective, and liberal. Their main difference lied on the extent they believed IAATO and Treaty parties could work together when managing tourism. These results were presented during the SRI Seminars in the University of Leeds and during the Antarctic Tourism Workshop in Rotterdam.

In May, WP3 was also concluded with the analysis of MPAs stakeholders. They were identified as Opened, Resolute, Concerned, and Sceptical conservationists. Their main difference was the degree and kind of threat they identified in CCAMLR’s operation. MPAs results were presented at the University of Leeds in September 2019.

In June POLARGOV participated at the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Awards 2019. The project was a finalist at the category ‘Scientific Careers for Policy-making’ and a video was recorded. In the project\'s last months, responses to the open-ended questions were analysed, supporting Q Methodology\'s results. And a manuscript on Antarctic tourism management has also been drafted.

Final results

The biggest contribution of POLARGOV is the identification of different perspectives among stakeholders on the management of Tourism and MPAs within the Antarctic Treaty. There were 70 interviews with representatives from science, industry, civil society, and government sectors. As results on tourism were presented to stakeholders during the Tourism Workshop in Rotterdam, they were included into documents submitted to the 42nd ATCM - configuring a direct impact on policy making.

For MPAs, impact was delivered in different ways. The outreach action undertook with HEON showed students the challenges in MPAs’ negotiation. A Masters Dissertation on MPAs was also supervised, contributing to potential future researchers. In addition, publications will be shared with each participant, as many have already requested.

The project’s impact seems to be an ongoing process. After the end of the action, the fellow was invited to visit the Brazilian Antarctic Programme in October 2019 and to talk at the Antarctic Parliamentarians Assembly in December 2019. And as publications come out, more the project\'s results will inform the understanding (and perhaps the approach) of stakeholders within the Antarctic Treaty System.

Website & more info

More info: http://www.see.leeds.ac.uk/research/sri/polargov/.