[SFDXA] Future South Sandwich Islands Activation's

[Bill]

/From Tedd Mirgliotta (KB8NW) - Bill W2CQ/

Future South Sandwich Islands (VPØ, formerly VP8) activation now looks 
extremely unlikely indeed.

The following published recently on the South Georgia Govt. website:

"In 2022, the Government designated the entire landmass of South Georgia 
and the South Sandwich Islands as Protected Areas.
The South Georgia Terrestrial Protected Area will conserve, protect and 
preserve the ecosystem and restore native biodiversity. It will ensure 
that activities are managed sustainably and those activities, such as 
research and media operations are assessed for their impact on the ecosystem
and managed accordingly. It will help deliver a sustainable tourist 
industry so that people will have the opportunity to experience these 
amazing habitats and develop collective knowledge about the biodiversity 
of the island. In recognition of their pristine nature and absence of 
introducedspecies, the South Sandwich Protected Area prohibits all entry 
without a permit which will only be granted in special circumstances."

Full details can be found at: 
https://www.gov.gs/environment/south-georgia-the-south-sandwich-islands/

Further correspondence received from the South Georgia & South Sandwich 
Islands Government indicates that DXpeditions to South Georgia
are still possible, subject to an initial Expedition Assessment process 
costing over $1,000. However, DXpeditions to South Sandwich Islands
would not be considered as 'special circumstances'.

Alan Cheshire
VK6CQ VKØLD VP8PJ

PO Box 8 Willetton
Western Australia 6955
AUSTRALIA
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.qth.net/pipermail/sfdxa/attachments/20221113/4640df39/attachment-0001.html>