Sea Shepherd in the Galapagos
Since 2000, Sea Shepherd has maintained a strong, positive presence in the Galapagos Islands. From patroling the Marine Reserve stopping illegal fishing activities, to busting shark finners, to educating the local youth, Sea Shepherd carries out its mission of promoting ocean conservation using a wide range of methods and actions.The Galapagos is our line in the sand. If humanity cannot protect such a unique and diverse ecosystem, we will not be able to protect any ecosystem. The Galapagos is a challenge and battlefield for the effort to halt human greed and destruction. These Enchanted Isles are a UNESCO World Heritage Site and this means all of us have a responsibility to help protect them from illegal exploitation.
| More Than 400 Conservation, Animal Protection, Peace and Justice Groups Plead With President Obama to Commute Okinawa Dugong Death Sentence |
 |
 |
 |
| Friday, 04 December 2009 07:21 | |||
Representatives of conservation, animal protection, and peace and justice groups representing more than 10 million Americans hand-delivered a letter today to the White House and State Department urging President Barack Obama to cancel plans to expand a U.S. military base near Henoko in Okinawa, Japan. The base expansion would destroy the prime feeding ground of the few manatee-like Okinawa dugong remaining in the world (believed to number about 50). The plan to expand the base – Camp Schwab, in northeast Okinawa – calls for filling in parts of Oura Bay and the surrounding area. The 1.5-mile-long airbase would also permanently disrupt one of the most biologically diverse areas in the Pacific. Okinawa has been called the “Galápagos of the East” because of its rich and unique biological diversity. The Henoko area provides important habitat for numerous rare wildlife species in addition to the dugong – an endangered marine mammal related to the manatee and a cultural icon in Japan – and three species of endangered sea turtles.The U.S. government recently announced that it would reconsider the base expansion plan in light of the massive local opposition to the project. Said Peter Galvin, conservation director at the Center for Biological Diversity, which led the letter campaign: “The Camp Schwab base expansion project would destroy some of the best remaining habitat for the highly endangered Okinawa dugong, one of the rarest marine mammal populations in the world. We call on President Obama to cancel this environmentally disastrous base-expansion plan.”.... To see a copy of the letter, please click here.Source: Center for Biological Diversity 
|
Letter Calling for Cancellation of Military Base Expansion in Rare Sea Mammal’s Japanese Habitat Hand-delivered to White House
Show/hide comment form
Our Campaigns
Top Stories
Hosting donated by
