The Ecological Monitoring Component of Environmental Impact Assessment in Antarctica. A Review

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is an integral part of the 1991 Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty. The ecological component of EIA is termed Ecological Impact Assessment (EcIA) and has been the subject of much worldwide research that has highlighted ecological monitoring as an area of concern. The concern lies with both the frequency with which monitoring is carried out, the quality of monitoring and the way the results are used to improve EcIA. This is particularly relevant in Antarctica where difficulties in implementing ecological monitoring are exacerbated by cost, ambiguity of language within the Protocol, limited habitat, lack of suitable terrestrial indicator species and a lack of baseline data. However some ecological monitoring is carried out providing useful baseline data and results for assessing the veracity of impact assessments. The Cape Roberts Project carried out a successful monitoring programme that showed the accuracy of the impact predictions made prior to starting the project