World Park Station | |
|---|---|
 Base resupply | |
  World Park Station Location in Antarctica | |
| Coordinates:77°38′05″S166°25′20″E / 77.6348°S 166.4222°E /-77.6348; 166.4222 | |
| Region | Ross Island |
| Location | Cape Evans |
| Established | January 1987 (1987-01) |
| Dismantled | 1992 (1992) |
| Government | |
| • Type | Administration |
| • Body | Greenpeace |
| Active times | All year-round |
World Park Base was a non-governmental year-round Antarctic base located atCape Evans onRoss Island in theRoss Dependency. It was the only non-government Antarctic base.[1]
The international environmental organizationGreenpeace established World Park Base in 1987 to give Greenpeace the right to attendAntarctic Treaty meetings, to seek allies for its aim to amend the treaty to block mineral extraction[1] and to declare the continent as a World Park. A treaty, theConvention on the Regulation of Antarctic Mineral Resource Activities, had been under consideration to enable mining but failed to receive the required support by 25 November 1989.[2][3]
Greenpeace and others wanted to make the entire continent off-limits to commercial exploitation and pollution, and permit only limited scientific research. Greenpeace closed the base down in 1991 and completely dismantled the base in 1992.[4][5]
Ultimately theProtocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty was agreed in 1991 and came into force in 1998, ratified by all the Antarctic Treaty consultative parties, designating Antarctica as a "natural reserve, devoted to peace and science".[2]
The official attitude amongst the Antarctic Treaty nations was that World Park Base was to be ignored and that no assistance be given to it, althoughNew Zealand, which claims jurisdiction overRoss Dependency (though all territorial claims are in abeyance under the Antarctic Treaty), would have assisted if a life-threatening situation arose.[citation needed]
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