A new five-year plan has been released for the ongoing management of Mawson’s Huts at Commonwealth Bay in Antarctica.
The Mawson’s Huts Management Plan 2013–2018 provides the continuing direction to protect and conserve the National Heritage, Commonwealth Heritage and other values of the Mawson’s Huts Historic Site.
The Site covers approximately 130 hectares and includes the buildings, structures and relics of the Main Base of the 1911–1914 Australasian Antarctic Expedition led by Australian scientist and polar explorer, Dr Douglas Mawson.
It is the place he called ‘the home of the blizzard’ and where, in January 1912, he established a number of huts to serve as living quarters and work areas for his team.
Australian Antarctic Division Acting Director, Jason Mundy, said that time and the unrelenting extreme Antarctic weather presented severe challenges for the management of the exposed historic site.
“Despite this, significant progress in the conservation of the huts has been made under the previous management plan including stabilisation works to the Transit Hut, ice excavation from the Main Hut and the onsite conservation of many artefacts.”
From 1996, the Australian Antarctic Division has worked with and given in-kind support to the Mawson’s Huts Foundation to undertake conservation work and conduct environmental monitoring and maintenance with the assistance of government grants.
Since 2005, more than $2.5 million in Commonwealth Government funding has been devoted to conservation of the Huts, backed up with continuing in-kind support from the Australian Antarctic Division.
Mr Mundy said that Mawson’s Huts represent Australia’s most significant historic presence in Antarctica, dating back to the so-called Heroic Era, and mark the dawn of Australian polar and scientific exploration.
“The 1911–14 expedition was important in that it established Australia’s interests in Antarctica. The science conducted then contributed to the world’s early understanding of the continent and laid the foundations for the later establishment of Australia’s Antarctic program through which our scientists continue critical research today,” Mr Mundy said.
The Site is listed as a National Heritage place and Commonwealth Heritage place under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Act 1999.
