Tour operators to Antarctica are facing a clampdown after a dramatic rise in tourists visiting the continent. Governments and environmentalists fear that mass tourism is starting to ruin the world's last great wilderness, reports The Times.

The growing popularity of adventurous and exotic holidays has more than tripled the number going to Antarctica from just 4,800 in 1991 to 15,325 in 2001. Tour operators expect the numbers to grow to 26,000 by 2006.

Although the Antarctic is one and half times the size of the United States, tourists tend to congregate at a handful of sites where the plants, seals and penguins live, clinging to the two per cent of the land that is ice-free in the still-chilly summer.

The push to curb tourism is being led by the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition, a consortium of 240 non-governmental organisations that includes the World Wide Fund for Nature and Friends of the Earth. The Times is asking readers to e-mail their views to [email protected].