Part III: Antarctica and Academe - Scott Polar Research Institute

Fifteen National and Union Delegates were present, accompanied by 49 observers
and advisers (the latter largely constituting the WG members). Thus there was a total
of 64 participants at IV SCAR in Cambridge, England (l960) for a full 5-day meeting;
a sizeable contrast to the 300+ participants who attended XXV SCAR in Concepcion,
Chile. At V SCAR, Wellington, New Zealand (l961), 11 WGs were active. Amusingly
now, in the computer age, a SCAR Recommendation noted with satisfaction that
most members were committing their meteorological data to punch cards; the USA
offered to punch at cost the data of those members without punchcard facilities! At
VI SCAR, in Boulder, USA (1962), a Special WG on "Forward Scatter Observation in
the Antarctic during the IQSY" - probably equivalent to a modern Group of
Specialists with a finite life - was set up to examine a particular problem
After the first year, l958, delegates' meetings were held annually, but at VIII
SCAR, in Paris (l964), an ad hoc WG of Delegates decided that the next meeting
should be in l966, setting a pattern for future biennial meetings. SCAR welcomed the
Antarctic Treaty "Agreed Measures for the Conservation of Antarctic Fauna and
Flora" and proposed that Ross Seal and fur seals should be designated Specially
Protected Species. The SCAR Executive Committee held its first separate meeting in
New York, Sept l965 (Dr L M Gould was President). IX SCAR, in Santiago, Chile
(1966), recommended that full SCAR Meetings should be held every 2 years together
with 2-4 WGs; also that the Executive Committee would meet in alternate years with
some subsidiary groups present (involving a total about 20-30 persons). The meeting
drew National Committees' attention to the need to appoint "active research
workers" to WGs - a concern that was still being expressed at XXV SCAR over thirty
years later.
SCAR in the l970s
SCAR continued to evolve in the 1970s. At XI SCAR, in Oslo, Norway (1970), the
organization and structure of SCAR was reviewed; it was agreed that the Executive
should revise the SCAR Constitution in light of the discussions; an ad hoc meeting of
Officers of WGs present agreed to retain the then current WG structure; groups
would meet in conjunction with regular SCAR meetings every 4 or 6 years. The
Executive Committee Meeting noted the proposal to initiate a European Antarctic
Programme
XII SCAR, in Canberra, Australia (1972), was the first SCAR meeting I attended.
The Delegates agreed that there should be a paid Executive Secretary for SCAR (in
addition to the Secretary who was an elected member of the Executive). The WG on
Biology recommended the Antarctic Treaty Protected Areas under the "Agreed
Measures" be divided into 2 categories: Conservation Reserves and Scientific
Reserves and suggested a need for management plans. (These eventually became
Specially Protected Areas (SPAs) and Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs). It also
showed foresight in noting that "Antarctica can serve as a unique and useful baseline
for monitoring global pollution" and recommended some monitoring programmes.
Delegates proposed to establish a Group of Specialists (G of S) on Seals with myself
as convenor (to facilitate the giving of SCAR advice to the recently signed
Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Seals (CCAS) and the promotion of seal
research); members should "meet as a group of independent scientists rather than as
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