UK Conservation Team Embarks on Mission to Protect Port Lockroy

A British conservation team has embarked on a 9,000-mile journey to Antarctica to safeguard historic Base A at Port Lockroy from climate change. The multi-year mission includes structural reinforcements against snow loading, comprehensive surveys at Wordie House, and ongoing monitoring of the local gentoo penguin population.

Protecting Base A and Port Lockroy From Rising Temperatures

A specialist crew from the United Kingdom is undertaking a 9,000-mile expedition to protect Port Lockroy, a historic British science base facing accelerating deterioration driven by rising temperatures and extreme weather on the rapidly warming Antarctic Peninsula. The UK Antarctic Heritage Trust (UKAHT), a Cambridge-based charity, is in the second year of a three-year conservation initiative focused on the site on Goudier Island. Established originally in 1944 during the wartime mission Operation Tabarin, Base A serves as a designated heritage site and is home to the world’s southernmost Post Office, a museum, and more than 1,000 gentoo penguins.

Initial groundwork was carried out by last year’s crew, laying the groundwork for what has been characterized by UKAHT as the charity’s biggest ever conservation season at Port Lockroy. The eight-person crew deployed to Goudier Island will spend five months this season tackling urgent structural repairs. Assessments have identified rot in exterior floor joists and structural timbers, exacerbated by moisture, inadequate drainage, and increased precipitation. Structural difficulties are further increased by a heavy piece of equipment known as “the Beastie,” which exerts extra pressure on the compromised floor due to its weight of over 500 kilograms.

Structural Reinforcements and Wordie House Surveys

To help the buildings withstand increased snow loading and moisture, the team will install up to six beams on the roof and 30 steel and timber props in the floor. Conservation engineer Maggie Cook noted the unique engineering puzzle of maintaining the remote buildings. Most of the buildings I work on were built to last for centuries. These were never meant to last at all, and yet they’re still standing decades on, Cook said.

Working out how to keep them standing, without changing what they are is the kind of problem I love.

Maggie Cook, conservation engineer

At the same time, for the first time, UKAHT is dispatching a separate field team of six specialists further south to conduct the first comprehensive survey of Wordie House. The site marks the location of Antarctica’s second longest continuous climate recording, which began in 1947. Artefacts conservator Sophie Rowe, visiting Antarctica for the fourth time, emphasized the importance of preserving the site’s interior history. The objects inside Wordie House are still where people left them, and recording each one is how we make sure the stories behind them aren’t lost, Rowe said.

Daily Operations and Penguin Monitoring at Goudier Island

While conservation carpenters and engineers carry out repairs, the team on Goudier Island will simultaneously manage daily tourist operations and scientific wildlife studies. Thousands of cruise ship passengers stop off at the remote Post Office annually to send messages home. Postmaster George Clarke is returning for his third season at the base.

I’ve really fallen in love with the Antarctic wilderness, as well as the penguins and can’t wait to get back there.

George Clarke, Postmaster

The crew will also count nests, eggs, and chicks as part of a study to monitor and protect the gentoo colony. Recruits enduring sub-zero temperatures, 24-hour daylight, and a lack of running water include a health and social care worker turned carpenter, an RAF veteran, and a mountain rescue volunteer.

Climate Change Threatens Antarctic Heritage Sites

The multi-year approach reflects the scale of the challenge posed by environmental shifts to Antarctic heritage sites.

This is a huge year for us as we meet the growing challenges of climate change. Since Wordie House’s records began in 1947, the Antarctic Peninsula has become one of the fastest-warming places on the planet and we see the impact every year on the wildlife and special places in our care.

Camilla Nichol, chief executive

The current team’s five-month deployment builds on infrastructure advances from previous seasons, which included the installation of solar power batteries and replacement windows at Bransfield House. Conservation work at Port Lockroy and Wordie House will continue into future months, with the 2026/27 team scheduled to be on site from November 2026 to March 2027.