Minister Allamand highlights the importance of protecting the Antarctic ecosystem for the future of humanity

In the framework of a virtual meeting organized by the European Union to support the proposals for marine protected areas of the Southern Ocean, Foreign Minister Andrés Allamand highlighted the importance of the protection of the Antarctic ecosystem for the future of humanity and the Chilean-Argentine proposal for Marine Protected Area in the Antarctic Peninsula.

"Chile is committed to the conservation of Antarctica and we will continue to work decisively on it," said the Secretary of State, adding that "this is the reason for working together with Argentina, since 2012, in our proposal to establish a Marine Protected Area in the Antarctic Peninsula."

The objective of this plan is the conservation of biodiversity and the maintenance of a healthy ecosystem, in one of the areas most affected by climate change and the center of one of the main fisheries in the southern ocean, especially krill fishing, key species for the Antarctic ecosystem.

In this sense, Minister Allamand called for joint work by all the proposing countries to ensure the establishment of a representative network of Marine Protected Areas in Antarctica.

The meeting was chaired by the Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans, and Fisheries of the European Union, Virginijus Sinkevičius, and the ministers of the countries proposing the three Marine Protected Areas in the target continent and the special envoy for climate change from the United States, John Kerry, participated.

In the end, the participating authorities approved a declaration to strengthen the international commitment for the establishment of Marine Protected Areas in Antarctica.

Check out the full statement here: