ABSTRACT
The conventional wisdom holds that a treaty, once signed and ratified, represents the end of an international problem. Like most conventional beliefs, this is inaccurate. Once a treaty is concluded, the legal and diplomatic formula embodied in the agreement must be made to function in the real world of international politics and economics. It must be adapted to the prevailing world situation, and it must continue to adapt as that situation changes over time. In the field of conservation, the Treaty expressly mandates Consultative Meetings for the "preservation and conservation of living resources in Antarctica." Thus, the Meetings from the beginning, in 1961, concerned themselves with protecting the Antarctic environment. Because of the extreme climate, the Antarctic ecosystems are particularly vulnerable to outside interference, and human activities in the region definitely fit this description. In reading the history of the Antarctic Treaty System in the 1960s, it is obvious that any harm declassification would bring would be undetectable.
