Delay in details of Greenpeace presence in Antarctic

Press, 1 November 1985, Page 4

Delay in details of Greenpeace presence in Antarctic

Government officials in New Zealand, Britain, and the United States are still waiting for Greenpeace to supply details of its proposed presence in Antarctica. The conservation group is sending a converted tug — complete with helicopter — to Antarctica next month. It plans to set up a base to draw attention to the threat of commercial exploitation of the continent’s minerals. Antarctic Treaty countries meeting in Brussels recently expressed concern about the threat to the environment posed by the increasing number of private expeditions to the continent. They were also worried about the safety and self-sufficiency of private groups. It was agreed that countries from which private ventures were launched Y 1

should seek details from expedition leaders, and pass them on to other treaty countries. British Government representatives disclosed at the meeting that Greenpeace, which has its headquarters in Surrey, had failed to respond to formal requests for information. A Greenpeace spokesman, Mr Peter Wilkinson, said in London in June that the group would not give some details because “every time we announce what we are going to do the authorities find a way to stop us.” “We have got to keep our plans pretty close to our chest,” he said. Greenpeace planned several “direct actions” while in the Antarctic. Without specifying targets, the organisation said, in a statement: “We are, for example,

very concerned about an airstrip project being constructed by the French Government, by surreptitious (and, we contend, illegal) oil exploration by Japan, and by the urbanisation by no fewer than seven States of King George Island in the Antarctic Peninsula.” The group’s Antarctic coordinator in New Zealand, Ms Susan Owen, said yesterday She was convinced that the authorities’ main concern related to the attention the group hoped to draw to human activities on the continent. “If we succeed, life will become a lot harder for Antarctic Treaty nations that want to open up the Antarctic for mineral exploitation,” she said. She said information outlining the group’s plans had been distributed at the Brussels meeting. Details I

about the base had not been announced because a final decision on the site would not be made until the group arrived. Greenpeace did not want to. interrupt scientific exSents or disturb proareas. “We will not take foolish risks. We will have the lives of 35 people to consider,” said Ms Owen. New Zealand and United States officials expressed concern earlier this month that the group’s helicopter could get in' the way of aircraft used for official research projects, particularly if air traffic controllers in the Antarctic were not advised of the group’s movements. Greenpeace’s pilot, Mr David Walley, said in Auckland yesterday that the Hughes 300 helicopter would be used mainly as a filming

platform. He had been in touch with New Zealand and American authorities, who were now aware of his plans. However, the director of the Antarctic Division of the D.5.1.R., Mr Bob Thomson, said no official approaches had been made. Greenpeace had a record of doing strange things, some of which were unsafe, he said. The group’s information packs outlined the reasons for the trip, but details of its planned activities were “sadly lacking.” “All they said about the base was that it would be south-west of the Ross Sea. That covers an area larger than New Zealand.” Mr Thomson said that he looked forward to receiving more detailed information, under the new treaty agreement, from the British Antarctic authorities.