NEW Zealand's decision to scale back plans for a massive Ross Sea marine reserve has been described as "baffling" and a tactical mistake by environmentalists.
After joining the US in seeking the establishment of a 2.3 million square kilometre reserve in Antarctic waters, New Zealand is now hinting it might be easier to get the 25 member countries of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) to agree on a smaller area.
That's despite previous efforts at a special meeting in Germany in July being vetoed by Russia, which questioned CCAMLR's legal authority to designate the Ross Sea reserve and another north of East Antarctica, proposed by Australia, France and the European Union.
A new proposal would reduce the size of the Ross Sea marine reserve by more than 40 per cent, to 1.35m sq km and doesn't say anything about making it permanent, says lobby group Antarctic Ocean Alliance.
"It was a tactical mistake on the part of the US and NZ to reduce the proposal without talking to other CCAMLR countries and it's likely to be a blow to Ross Sea protection," said director Steve Campbell.
The WWF's Bob Zuur said New Zealand's weakened proposal was very disappointing.
"It is also baffling as to why this has happened at this stage in the negotiations," he said.
"There is a compelling scientific case for a large protected area and the New Zealand government should have continued acting on the basis of this science."
Washington-based Andrea Kavanagh, director of The Pew Charitable Trust's Southern Ocean sanctuaries project, says even more troubling than the drastic size reduction is New Zealand's indication that the time frame for the reserve is negotiable.
CCAMLR will have its next meeting in Hobart next month.
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