Creation of a vast marine sanctuary in Antarctica's "Last Ocean" inched closer at international talks today as China for the first time backed the proposal, officials said, with Russia understood to be the last holdout.
The Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) has been meeting for almost two weeks, with two proposed marine protected areas designed to protect species such as whales and giant squid on the table among other issues.
Ahead of the close of the meeting, officials said that China had indicated it could now endorse one of these reserves in the Ross Sea, which is known as the "Last Ocean" because it is considered the last intact marine ecosystem on Earth.
"Up until now China has not been in favour of establishing this Marine Protected Area and through negotiation and discussion with them they have agreed to support the Ross Sea Marine Protected Area," head of the US delegation Evan Bloom told AFP.
"And that's important because now only one country remains that isn't supportive and so we're closer. This is an important country to have gotten on board. So, for us, this is a pretty good result."
Both the Ross Sea proposal and an Australia-backed East Antarctic protected zone have been blocked four times so far at the annual CCAMLR meets, which require consensus from all 24 members countries and the European Union to progress.
New Zealand's Foreign Minister Murray McCully welcomed China's support as a "major step", saying the proposal was designed to balance scientific, environmental and fishing interests.
The US and New Zealand-backed Ross Sea proposal was this year enlarged to more than 1.5 million square kilometres (600,000 square miles) but with the overall no fishing zone slightly diminished, though still covering about 1.1 million square kilometres.
"We also welcome Russia's statement that it is open to working with members on the MPA ahead of the next CCAMLR meeting in 2016," McCully said in a statement.
The head of the Russian delegation could not be reached as the meeting stretched into the late afternoon but the fate of both protected areas was expected to be known later Friday.
"Of course our preference would be to establish it this year but we have a bit more work to do and we will set about doing it," Bloom said of the Ross Sea protected zone.
