Tourists welcome on ice - but with reservations

By SIMON COLLINS

Most New Zealand scientists are happy to share the wonders of Antarctica with tourists.

A survey of 78 New Zealand scientists working in Antarctica found that almost all would tolerate tourists.

Dr Gary Steel, a Lincoln University psychologist who worked on the survey, said he was surprised at the lack of "extreme responses" such as complete opposition to tourism.

Scientists said this might be because the survey was done at Scott Base in the Ross Sea region south of New Zealand, which is visited by only 300 tourists a year, mainly by ship.

In contrast, about 12,000 people visit other regions, especially the Antarctic Peninsula and Weddell Sea below South America where a Canadian company operates a private tourist airfield.

Dr Steel found that NZ scientists' attitudes fell into three groups:

* Cautious tolerance (19 per cent): oppose commercial exploitation; believe science and tourism often conflict; see safety risks; want tight control including "no-go" areas.

* Complex tolerance (47 per cent): silent acceptance of tourists but with some concerns; want to limit numbers and impose codes of practice.

* Comfortable tolerance (34 per cent): see the educational value of visiting Antarctica and the value of tourists as "ambassadors" for protecting the region; see tourist impact as trivial compared with the effect of big national bases; want pre-visit education for tourists and tourism spread rather than concentrated at a few places like huts of the early explorers.