clipped from: www.abc.net.au   
Anna Salleh

News analysis Australia has become the first country to be granted exclusive property rights in Antarctica, say experts, raising questions about how bioprospecting will be managed in this sensitive and disputed territory.

Antarctica
Antarctica is home to organisms that researchers want to exploit for novel genes and chemicals. But Australia's newly granted rights to part of the region raise legal, diplomatic and environmental questions
Australia's approved claim for an extended continental shelf included the Kerguelen Plateau around Heard and McDonald Islands (purple area), which extends southwards, below 60 degrees south, into Antarctica. The green area represents Australia's existing territories, some of which are disputed (Commonwealth of Australia/Geoscience Australia)
Australia's approved claim for an extended continental shelf included the Kerguelen Plateau around Heard and McDonald Islands (purple area), which extends southwards, below 60 degrees south, into Antarctica. The green area represents Australia's existing territories, some of which are disputed
"This is the first property rights allocation for the area south of 60° south and it will be contentious but it has been sanctioned by the United Nations," says Antarctic law expert Dr Julia Jabour of Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre