Annual reports

Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts annual report 2008-09

Volume one
Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, 2009
ISSN 1441-9335

Outcome 2 - Antarctica

Introduction

The Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts is responsible for advancing Australia's interests in Antarctica by supporting Antarctic and Southern Ocean programs, participating in international forums, and conducting scientific research.

The department's Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) is responsible for leading Australia's Antarctic program.

Main responsibilities for this outcome
  • Antarctic Treaty System
  • Antarctic and Southern Ocean environment protection
  • Australian Antarctic Territory and Territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands administration
  • Antarctic and Southern Ocean research
Australian Antarctic Division

Highlights

Objectives

Antarctic policy

Antarctic science

Results

Cover of the revised fuel spills manual

Cover of the revised fuel spills manual.

Cover: Courtesy of AAD

Strategies

Policy

The department, through the Australian Antarctic Division, actively participates and leads discussion in key forums including: the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting; the Committee for Environmental Protection; the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources; and the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels.

Australia is committed to valuing and protecting Antarctica, and demonstrates this commitment by: pursuing agreement by Treaty parties to internationally accepted environmental protection measures through the Antarctic Treaty system; developing, implementing and managing practical ways to minimise the effects of our own activities; restoring past work sites; and undertaking research to ensure that management of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean is based on sound scientific principles and the best available scientific knowledge. Australia's research also contributes to understanding environmental systems and the effects of global climate change. Australia has a significant role in combating the illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing of sub-Antarctic and Antarctic marine living resources, by proposing new measures to prevent pirate fishing and block access to markets for such catches.

Antarctic science

Australia continues to undertake scientific research in accordance with: the Science Strategy for Australia's Antarctic program (2004-05 to 2010-11); Australia's National Research Priorities; and the nation's policy interests and associated government goals. This priority science supports Australia's interests in environmental protection, determining the role that Antarctica plays in the global climate system, and gaining an understanding of how organisms and ecosystems are adapting to an extreme and changing environment.

In 2008-09, the final year of the International Polar Year (which actually ran over two years), Australia undertook a highly collaborative and internationally based scientific program. The following results were achieved during the year:

The Australian Antarctic Division was also actively involved in conducting research in high priority areas of Antarctic science. These included: climate change; sustainability and environmental protection; and providing a depository and primary source of Australian Antarctic information. The department also took a lead role in coordinating and managing logistic support for the Australian Antarctic program, including permanent stations, marine science, field bases, transport, communication and medical services.

Included within the high priority research, was a major collaborative project entitled ICECAP (Investigating the Cryospheric Evolution of the Central Antarctic Plate), which commenced field operations in 2008-09. This project was supported by the Australian Antarctic Division, the United States National Science foundation, and the United Kingdom's National Environmental Research Council. During three weeks in January and February, the team flew over 30 000 kilometres of aerogeophysical survey lines out of Australia's Casey Station. They made 14 flights and gathered over a terabyte of data. Preliminary data processing has already revealed that the Aurora Subglacial Basin region contains a wide variety of landscapes beneath the ice; from smoothly rolling plains to large mountain ranges cut by deep valleys to new lakes beneath the ice.

International Polar Year activities

Australia played a major role in the International Polar Year, by leading and participating in a wide range of domestic and international projects. Australia's role in the projects fostered international collaboration and strengthened Australia's position in the Antarctic scientific community and Antarctic Treaty System.

Two Australian led projects 'Aliens in Antarctica' and 'Solar Linkages to Atmospheric Processes', conducted field work in Antarctica during 2008-09. Both were conducted in collaboration with other nations.

In addition, the Australian Antarctic Division provided significant logistic support and co-led Antarctica's Gamburtsev Province Project (AGAP). This project was a multinational collaboration between the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, China, Japan and Canada, studying the evolutionary history of the Gamburtsev sub-glacial mountain range. This large mountain range is approximately the same size as the European Alps but is hidden under 600m of ice and snow. Little was known about the area prior to this project.

Australia's participation in IPY was very successful in the four major goals of the IPY - advances in polar knowledge (by participating in 72 of the 228 endorsed IPY projects); providing a legacy of infrastructure (with the commencement of the airlink) and observational systems; inspiring a new generation of scientists; and public outreach (through projects such as the Census of Antarctic Marine Life).

Australian Antarctic Data Centre

The Australian Antarctic Data Centre (AADC) continues to publish Antarctic and sub-Antarctic marine and terrestrial data to global data networks, such as the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) and SCAR-MarBIN (an Antarctic themed node of the Ocean Biogeographical Information System - OBIS). To date over 800 000 observations have been contributed to these networks to enable the international scientific community to access them. The AADC also advertises Australian datasets; via 2000 metadata records that reside in the Australian node of the global Antarctic Master Directory (AMD) system (see http://gcmd.nasa.gov/KeywordSearch/Home.do?Portal=amd_au&MetadataType=0 ).

In the past 12 months the AADC has established a service to host the Antarctic community's place names gazetteer, which now holds approximately 36 000 place names. This collaborative service is physically maintained by Australia but content is moderated by Italy. The place names gazetteer is closely coupled to a Feature Catalogue service that provides unique identifiers for, and descriptions of, Antarctic objects, which are usually geographic features (e.g. mountains, glaciers). The AADC has also established an international online catalogue of maps, with over 5700 items registered, and a catalogue of aerial photographs and images with approximately 48 000 entries. This year, an international sea-ice database was developed and launched, to aid the international scientific community in collating disparate data on sea ice thickness and extents.

Antarctic Operations

During the 2008-09 Antarctic season the Australian Antarctic Division conducted a range of shipping, air, training and infrastructure activities in support of the Australian Antarctic program, including:

Evaluation

Despite a delay to the 2008-2009 AAp at the start of the Austral Summer, due to an urgent medical evacuation from Davis Station, the Australian Antarctic Division successfully:

As part of its focus on improving performance, the Australian Antarctic Division has outlined a 2020 roadmap to achieve the following outcomes:

In pursuit of these outcomes a set of pathways has been developed, which cover the development of: integrated planning processes; flexible capability; a marketing strategy; alignment of organizational culture; resolution of legacy issues; optimisation of international collaboration; and securing whole-of-Government buy in.

The following activities have already begun:

Case studies

Case study 1: Studies of the Antarctic Ice Sheet in the Australian Antarctic Territory

The AAD undertook a number of research projects during the year on the state of balance of the ice mass in Antarctica and its role in sea level change. 

Two of the larger projects were airborne geophysical surveys in East Antarctica, undertaken as international collaborations to which Australia contributed as part of the International Polar Year 2007-2008.  One of these multinational collaborations surveyed an area of nearly 1 million square kilometres of the Aurora and Wilkes sub-glacial basins inland from Casey. A specially instrumented aircraft was used to measure: ice sheet elevation and thickness; internal ice structure; gravity; and the geomagnetic field. The Aurora Basin includes potentially the deepest, oldest ice and lies within the Australian Antarctic Territory. It also includes the Totten Glacier, east of Casey Station. The surface of the lower part of this glacier has been lowering at a rate of up to 0.6 metres per year, over the last 20 years, and contributing to sea level rise. The aerial survey data complement earlier Australian land-based measurements and satellite laser altimeter measurements of changes to the Totten Glacier, one of the few regions in East Antarctica that is losing ice.


The second international aerial ice sheet survey completed the first comprehensive study of the sub-glacial Gamburtsev Mountains (in the interior of East Antarctica beneath the highest part of the ice sheet). The survey involved partners from the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, China, Japan and Canada. Working from two remote inland ice camps, one of which was operated by the AAD, instrumented light aircraft surveyed about 2 million square kilometres of the ice sheet. 

The knowledge gained from both these airborne surveys will underpin a new generation of ice sheet models, allowing better estimates of future contributions of the ice sheet to sea-level rise. The surveys also help locate potential sites where an Antarctic ice core could be obtained that would provide a record of past climate over more than one million years.

During the 2008-09 ice sheet program a 130 metre long ice core was retrieved from Law Dome near Casey.  This will produce improved records, which reflect the southern ocean and mid-latitude climate over the last 250 years. Further short ice cores were also collected from remote sites on the Totten Glacier and on Mill Island, in the Shackleton Ice shelf, 400km west of Casey. These cores provide a short snapshot of snowfall variability over the past few years to a decade, and also an assessment of suitability for future deeper drilling.

Case study 2: On guard against an alien invasion in Antarctica

ABC Television's Catalyst presenter Paul Willis has his boots laced with seeds by Dana Bergstrom

As part of the Aliens in Antarctica project an experiment was set up to determine the likelihood of propagules attached to clothing being deposited in Antarctica. Here ABC Television's Catalyst presenter Paul Willis has his boots laced with seeds by Dana Bergstrom, before walking through a patch of sand, a typical action of an Antarctic tourist.

Photo: Mat Oakes

Aliens in Antarctica! It sounds like a science fiction thriller, but, in fact, Aliens in Antarctica is the first major investigation of the risk that people may inadvertently cause the invasion of Antarctica by alien (non-native) species from the other continents. The International Polar Year project, that began in the summer of 2007-08, is examining the type and amount of 'propagules' (seed, spores and eggs) that are unintentionally imported into the region (on clothes, shoes or hand luggage), as well as how many propagules are likely to be deposited and whether they will germinate and grow.

Staff members from the Australian Antarctic Division's Environmental Protection and Change program, have been active in the leadership and implementation of this international project. An Australian pilot study conducted a few years ago, found an array of seeds from grasses and other plants, moss spores, plant fragments and soil particles, which could potentially hitch-hike to Antarctica on travellers' belongings. An international team of scientists from nine nations was assembled to investigate the size of the problem across the Antarctic region. In the 2007-08 Antarctic season, passengers on over 40 ships and planes from many Antarctic nations participated in a survey to determine where they had travelled in the last 12 months and hence the risk that they had picked up invasive species. The outdoor clothing and belongings of nearly 1000 expeditioners and tourists were probed with special vacuum cleaners in the search for propagules. Analysis of this enormous amount of samples will provide the first quantitative overview of the threat posed by humans entering Antarctica and bringing in alien species.

Staff and graduate students at the Antarctic Division, also examined over 2000 items of fresh fruit and vegetables destined for Australian Antarctic stations. Eighty-nine per cent of these items were clean, while most of the remaining 11% showed some level of infection by blue moulds (Penicillium sp). Cargo destined for Antarctic stations was also examined over the same period, with some interesting discoveries, including live springtails and mites in packaging material. The material was scheduled to be fumigated, but it demonstrates how important it is to be vigilant in these situations. The organisms found were from taxonomic classes that are already represented in the fauna of Antarctica, suggesting that these non-Antarctic species may be able to live under Antarctic conditions.

With rapid climate change occurring in some parts of Antarctica, greater numbers of alien introductions and more successful invasions by aliens are likely, with consequent increases in impacts on ecosystems. The Aliens in Antarctica project provides the first opportunity to properly assess the threat of alien propagule transfer to the Antarctic region through human activity.

Once the urgency of the threat is established, appropriate methods can be formulated to combat the risk. Data and information gathered during this project will be reported to the Antarctic Treaty's Committee for Environmental Protection in 2010. It will be used to develop practical preventative methods, which will be proposed jointly by Australia, France and New Zealand.

Results for performance indicators

Output Group 2.1: Antarctic policy
Performance Indicator
Target
2008-09 results
Australia's policy objectives are met through international forums

Actively participate in the following Antarctic Treaty forums:
  • Antarctic Treaty Consultative meeting
  • Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources
  • Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Seals
  • Committee for Environmental Protection
  • Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research
  • Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programs
  • Standing Committee on Antarctic Logistics and Operations
  • Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels
 Australia was active in the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting, and, in particular, led the successful negotiation on improved arrangements for the conservation of Antarctic fauna and flora:
  • Through the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, Australia was successful in achieving beneficial outcomes on furthering the orderly development of fisheries and greater protection for benthic ecosystems and the declaration of two Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems in the Southern Ocean. Australia also continued to play a lead role in developing measures to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing of toothfish.
  • Australia played a leading role in the Committee for Environmental Protection (CEP), where it holds the position of Vice-chair, and obtained agreement to its proposals on preventing the introduction of non-native species; protecting and monitoring the Southern giant petrel; a study of the environmental effects of Antarctic tourism; and updated management plans for Mawson's Huts.
  • Australia was a major contributor of research and other work on seabird conservation issues central to work under the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels. It worked closely with several other Agreement Parties. Australian contributions:
    • established population levels and trends for species protected under the Agreement
    • helped to develop new and improved measures to reduce or avoid seabird bycatch in longline fisheries, and
    • helped to develop co-operative relationships under the Agreement with the management organisations of regional fisheries.
Effective environmental protection measures are in place and are utilised

That environmental protection measures arein place, utilised and performance managedvia the Australian Antarctic Division

Environmental Management System. Performance will be monitored by:
  • the number, type and scale of environmental incidents reported
  • the number of reported incidents that remain unresolved after three months
 Significant dieback has been observed this year in the endemic Azorella macquariensis cushion plant species on Macquarie Island. The cause is unknown and investigations are continuing. Stringent measures have been implemented to reduce the risk of spread of the pathogen by humans, including the requirements for all who travel off-station to scrub all boots and outer gear with a virucide/biocide agent. This was also used to clean helicopter blades that may have contacted the pathogen during operations in the field on Macquarie Island.

Only two minor fuel spills (15 and 30 litres) occurred in Antarctica this year, reflecting expeditioner awareness gained through training and improvements in infrastructure, standard operating procedures and equipment. These occurred on stations and were cleaned up immediately using fuel spill gear.

Over 1000 safety and environmental incidents, hazards and improvement suggestions have been logged since the electronic reporting system was launched in October 2004. About one-third of these are environmental incidents. Of these, only 10 incidents still require some action to resolve. They involve possible alien species, minor spills, packaging and cleaning of equipment. There are 3 hazard reports associated with fuel transport, storage and handling in Antarctica that require significant resources to resolve. There are also 16 improvement suggestions remaining to be resourced or otherwise progressed.
Effective administration of the Australian Antarctic Territory and the Territory of Heard Island and MacDonald Islands

Territories under Australian jurisdiction are administered in accordance with relevant legislation and guidelines (including management plans where appropriate)		 All new research and operational activities in the Territories were assessed for their environmental impacts.

Public comment was invited on the environmental impact assessment of the proposed replacement of the ageing incinerators at Mawson, Casey and Davis stations.

Australian Antarctic Division initiatives to prevent introduction of non-native species via Australian operations were given effect, with the assistance of Quarantine Tasmania.

The Australian Antarctic Division convened a meeting of Antarctic Treaty Parties operating in the Larsemanns Hills, Princess Elizabeth Land, to review the conduct of activities in this Antarctic Specially Managed Area.
Maintenance of an effective communications strategy, which provides Australians with a connection with Antarctica, via:

  • the continued provision and maintenance of one of the world's leading online sources of Antarctic information
 The main Antarctic Division web site at www.aad.gov.au provided more than 14 million page views during the financial year, with an estimated 2.5 million visits to the site.

A new Australian Marine Mammal Centre web site was launched in January 2009 at www.marinemammals.gov.au .

The Antarctic Data Centre continued to provide a wide range of data through their site at data.aad.gov.au .
  • the active promotion of Australia's activities in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean
 Australian Antarctic Division Public Affairs deals with a range of media reporting.  During 2008-09, an average of three to four media releases was issued each month.

Greatest reach was achieved through continued building of relationships with local, national and international media outlets.

Major AAD initiatives covered in 2008-09 included International Polar Year projects:
  • Census of Antarctic Marine Life
  • Aliens in Antarctica
  • Solar Linkages to Atmospheric Processes
  • the provision of the Australian Antarctic Arts Fellowships to allow Australian artists to travel to and experience Antarctica
 Visual artist Stephen Eastaugh was announced as the Australian Antarctic Arts Fellow for 2009. He will spend a year in Antarctica, the first Arts fellow to do so.
  • the publication of the Australian Antarctic Magazine on a biennial basis
 2 editions of the Australian Antarctic Magazine were produced.  A total of 4000 magazines are produced per issue, plus online publication.  
Effective administration of sites of recognised heritage significance

Sites are effectively administered, as demonstrated through achievements against the DEWHA Heritage Strategy		 Drafting of a plan for the protection of the Commonwealth heritage listed values of the original (circa 1954) station buildings at Mawson commenced.

Work continued on the restoration of the original Mawson station living quarters, 'Biscoe hut'.

A work plan was developed to guide the Mawson's Huts Foundation's 2008-09 summer conservation works, on the 1911-14 Australasian Antarctic Expedition huts and artefacts at Cape Denison.

In accordance with the management plan, tourist visits to the Cape Denison historic site were supervised by approved guides.

Monitoring, to assist in detecting any changes to the natural and cultural heritage values of the Territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands, was undertaken during a visit to Heard Island made in December 2008.
Output Group 2.2: Antarctic science (AAD)
Performance Indicator
Target
2008-09 results
Successful completion of elements of the Antarctic Science Strategy 2004-05 to 2009-10

Demonstrated by:
  • the number of projects undertaken as part of the Australian Antarctic program (110 during 2008-09)
 119 projects undertaken in 2008-09
  • the number of domestic and international institutions involved in the Australian Antarctic program (150 during 2008-09)
 242 institutions from 28 countries
That scientific research of practical, economic and national significance is undertaken

Demonstrated by:		 Australian Antarctic program scientists undertook significant research in support of policy goals. Major scientific contributions were made in support of Australia's activities in the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), in the area of fish stocks, and also marine conservation, with two Vulnerable Marine Ecosystems being declared by CCAMLR following an AAD led marine science voyage.
  • the total number of papers produced in the previous calendar year, including peer reviewed papers and conference papers (300 during 2008)
 337 papers
  • the number of scientists active in Antarctic and Southern Ocean science (100 during 2008-09)
 104 scientists active in Antarctica and Southern Ocean science
  • the provision of collaborative data services to the global Antarctic science community via the activities of the Australian Antarctic Data Centre
 Antarctic and sub-Antarctic marine and terrestrial data have been provided to global data networks including the Global Biodiversity Information Facility and Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research Marine Biodiversity Information Network (an Antarctic-themed node of the Ocean Biogeographical Information System.

In the past 12 months, the Australian Antarctic Data Centre (AADC) has established a service to host the Antarctic community's place names gazetteer, which now holds approximately 36 000 place names.

The AADC has also established an international online catalogue of maps, with over 5700 items registered and a catalogue of aerial photographs and images, with approximately 48 000 entries.

This year an international sea-ice database was developed and launched, to aid the international scientific community in collating disparate data on sea ice thickness and extents.
Extent to which science outcomes lead to achievement of Antarctic policy goals

The provision of high quality scientific advice as required to support and underpin Australia's Antarctic policy goals at international forums
  • 21 scientific working papers were provided to the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, 3 to the International Whaling Commission in 2008-09, and 3 papers contributed to a joint Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources - International Whaling Commission (CCAMLR-IWC) workshop.
  • Australian scientists facilitated the CCAMLR-IWC workshop in 2008, including the coordination of three review papers, that assembled data for ecosystem models to be used for evaluating conservation strategies for whales and the ecological sustainability of the Antarctic krill fishery
  • Facilitated consideration, review and adoption of measures to mitigate bottom fishery impacts on vulnerable marine ecosystems in the Southern Ocean, in line with the requirements of the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 61/105.
  •  CCAMLR adopted measures to curb over-exploitation of toothfish fisheries in the Southern Indian Ocean based on Australian data/papers.
  • CCAMLR adopted measures ensuring the ecological sustainability of fisheries in the vicinity of Heard Island and McDonald Islands based on Australian data/papers.
  • Australia proposed two areas identified during the Collaborative Eastern Antarctic Marine Census - Climate of the Antarctic and Southern Oceans International Polar Year voyage, as clear examples of vulnerable marine ecosystems with photographic evidence of complex habitat structure and high biodiversity. These areas were endorsed and have been placed on a register of vulnerable marine ecosystems held by the CCAMLR Secretariat.
  • Australian scientists led International Whaling Commission initiatives including the Whales and Climate Change meeting in Italy in February.
  • The Southern Ocean Research Program was developed by Australia and held its first workshop in Sydney in March.

Resources

Output 2.1 - Antarctic Policy
Departmental Outputs Budget 2008-09
$'000
(a)		 Actual Expenses 2008-09
$'000
(b) 		Variation
$'000
(a)-(b)
Antarctic Policy 48,389 47,927 462
Subtotal for Output Group 2.1 48,389 47,927 462
Output 2.2 - Antarctic Science
Departmental Outputs Budget 2008-09
$'000
(a)		 Actual Expenses 2008-09
$'000
(b) 		Variation
$'000
(a)-(b)
Antarctic Science 102,828 103,327 (499)
Subtotal for Output 2.2 102,828 103,327 (499)

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