This article offers a short summary of the approaches that guided the Antarctic environmental protection since its early days, especially with regards to the Antarctic Treaty and the Committee on Environmental Protection (CEP). The relevance that different issues have taken over recent decades –from protection of Antarctic fauna and reduction of environmental impact of research stations, to mitigation of the effects of climate change- responds not only to changes in world views regarding conservation but also to the advancement of science that has become central to discussions of environmental protection in Antarctica.