This October, two dozen countries and the European Union will decide the fate of some of the most important penguin habitat on Earth. The Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, or CCAMLR, could create two large marine reserves in the Ross Sea and the waters off East Antarctica.
These large-scale protections would preserve penguin foraging and breeding grounds, and help build resilience to warming seas and melting and shifting ice.
Countries have tried four times to agree on the fate of Antarctic waters and each time have failed to reach consensus. It’s time for international leaders to step up and make the right decision for the future of penguins and designate the world’s largest marine reserve in Antarctica’s Southern Ocean.