BALTIMORE – At a conference in the United States on Friday a strict limit has been imposed on tourism at the South Pole.
More than forty-seven countries around the pole agreed that ships with more than five hundred passengers are not allowed to moor at the Antarctic.
In addition the ships are not allowed to let more than a hundred tourists go on land at any one time.
The agreement is necessary according to the countries involved to protect the fragile eco system on the Pole. Holidays to the South Pole are increasingly popular. During the last season forty-six thousand people embarked on a cruise to the area, twice as much as five years earlier.
The agreement was finalised during an eleven day conference in Baltimore in the American state of Maryland. The treaty still needs to be ratified by the various nations before it becomes effective.
The rules are an extension of the Antarctic Treaty that was signed by twelve countries in 1959. In that treaty there was an emphasis on the importance of the white continent to earth’s climate and for scientific research. According to the treaty Antarctica should only be used for peaceful purposes and not be the stage for any international conflict.
