It is easy to forget today that conservation is a relatively new concept in western society and that in many other parts of the world it has still to make an impact. When the Antarctic Treaty was negotiated in the late 1950s conservation was not one of the pressing issues to be included in it. It was not until the Third Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM) in 1964 that a set of rules directed towards environmental protection, the Agreed Measures for the Conservation of Antarctic Fauna and Flora, was drawn up.

The Agreed Measures form a rather simple practical code of conduct having four main articles:

1. i) it is forbidden to kill, wound or capture any native mammal or bird;

2. ii) harmful interference with the normal living conditions of native and birds must be minimised and pollution of coastal avoided;

3. iii) Specially Protected Areas may be designated where unique or outstandingly interesting species or ecological systems can be preserved; and finally,

4. iv) the introduction of non-indigenous species is banned.

More than 20 years later, most practising conservation managers would see the Agreed Measures as being rather naively drawn, and indeed, in retrospect, it would have been helpful if there had been a more effective input at the drafting stage from people with practical experience of environmental protection.

The Agreed Measures were extended by other recommendations made at subsequent ATCMs, notably at the Seventh, when the concept of the establishment of Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) was introduced.