Among other things, the Convention provides that no 

 Antarctic mineral resource activities shall take place unless 

 available information is adeguate to conclude that the 

 activities would not have significant adverse effects on 

 wildlife, the Antarctic environment, or the special scientific, 

 historic, aesthetic, or wilderness values of the Antarctic. 

 The Convention provides for the establishment of a commission 

 to overview its implementation, regulatory committees to 

 govern mineral resource activities judged to be acceptable, 

 and a scientific, technical, and environmental advisory 

 committee to provide advice to the commission and regulatory 

 committees. 



The Marine Mammal Commission believes that the Minerals 

 Resources Convention provides a mechanism which will help 

 insure that, should mineral exploration and development occur 

 in the Antarctic, they do not have significant adverse effects 

 on whales, seals, or other components of the Antarctic marine 

 ecosystem. In 1989, the Commission will work with the 

 Department of State and other Federal agencies to determine 

 steps that should be taken by the United States to give effect 

 to the Convention. 



Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) 



The Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) 

 was established in 1958 to foster international cooperation 

 on scientific research programs in the Antarctic. It is one 

 of the scientific committees under the International Council 

 of Scientific Unions, a body to which the National Academy of 

 Sciences is the U.S. adhering organization. The Academy's 

 Polar Research Board functions as the U.S. National Committee 

 for SCAR. 



SCAR serves as an unofficial scientific advisory body to 

 the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Parties, who have increasingly 

 called upon it for scientific and technical advice concerning 

 conservation and other issues. As described in previous 

 Annual Reports, for example, the Antarctic Treaty Consultative 

 Parties have, since 1983, reguested that SCAR provide advice 

 on: procedures to evaluate the possible environmental impacts 

 of scientific research programs and related logistic support 

 activities in the Antarctic; standards and technology for 

 waste disposal; the adeguacy of the existing system of Antarctic 

 protected areas and the possible need for an additional category 

 of protected area; and measures that possibly could be taken 

 to improve the comparability and accessibility of environmental 

 and other data being collected by national Antarctic programs. 



SCAR and many of its subsidiary bodies met in Australia 

 in September 1988. A Marine Mammal Commission representative 

 participated in the meetings, at which a number of conser- 



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