In October 2016, the international community made history by adopting the world's largest marine protected area in the Ross Sea, Antarctica—by consensus. Achieving this feat required trade‐offs and compromise among the 24‐Member States (plus the European Union) comprising the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources. The process took 5 years of intense international negotiations and more than 10 years of scientific planning. Based on interviews with national delegations and other stakeholders, 5 years of participatory observation of Commission meetings (2012–2016), and analysis of hundreds of documents, we present unique insights that explain the conditions that stalled or facilitated the adoption of the Ross Sea MPA. These included economic interests, geopolitics, an erosion of trust, high‐level diplomacy, and the compromises that were ultimately necessary. We reflect on lessons learned as the world considers how to achieve future large‐scale conservation successes in the global commons.

中文翻译：

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在保护全球公地方面达成共识：南极罗斯海案

2016年10月，国际社会一致同意采用南极洲罗斯海地区世界上最大的海洋保护区，从而创造了历史。要实现这一壮举，需要在组成南极海洋生物资源保护委员会的24个成员国（包括欧盟）之间进行权衡和折衷。这个过程花了5年的激烈国际谈判和10多年的科学计划。基于对各国代表团和其他利益相关者的采访，对委员会会议的五年参与性观察（2012-2016年）以及对数百份文件的分析，我们提供了独特的见解，可以解释阻碍或促进罗斯海MPA通过的条件。其中包括经济利益，地缘政治，信任的削弱，高级外交，以及最终必要的妥协。当世界考虑如何在全球公域中实现未来的大规模保护成功时，我们会总结经验教训。