Professor Steven Chown, Medal of the 30th Anniversary of the Madrid Protocol [fr]

On October 4th, 2021, the States being Parties of the Antarctic Treaty System celebrated the 30th anniversary of the Madrid Protocol.

This landmark Protocol complementing the Antarctic Treaty has designated Antarctica as a “natural reserve, devoted to peace and science” and has set key principles for framing human activities in the area covered by the Treaty, for the benefit of environmental protection of Antarctica as a whole.

At the 43rd Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting in June 2021, France – being the organizing country and which co-initiated with Australia in 1989 the international negotiations that led to the signature of the Protocol on October 1991 – wants to acknowledge the importance of the Madrid Protocol by rewarding for the first time a scientist whose research contributed to support the spirit behind the Protocol.

Professor Chown’s commitment to the Madrid Protocol is exceptional. His entire career has been devoted to the protection of the Antarctic environment. For over twenty years, his research has focused on the environmental challenges, policy and management of the Antarctic and sub-Antarctic regions.

A world-renowned physiologist, one of whose main research interests is understanding the thermal limits and impacts of environmental change on Antarctic terrestrial invertebrates, Professor Chown is best known for his studies on invasive species and their impacts on the Antarctic environment. In this capacity, he was the first director of the South African National Centre of Excellence for Invasion Biology.

Professor Chown took this opportunity to pay a tribute to the late Yves Frenot, ex-director of the French Polar Institute Paul-Emile Victor.