*[Enwl-eng] Baby whales, turtles, coral reefs
ENWLine
Hi,
My name is Virginia and I'm writing to you from Spain. You may have seen my name in your inbox. I am totally passionate about what people power can achieve to make Europe a better place.
Today I want to tell you a great story of change from Spain that is already happening and to make you part of it. A story about protecting whales, dolphins, sharks, turtles and coral reefs, all living in a marine sanctuary that is about to get destroyed.
On Monday, I found that social media had exploded with thousands of people across Spain saying 'no' to a megaport in the Canary Islands. A megaport that threatens this marine sanctuary and all that live there. In just a few days, those thousands of supporters grew to be a quarter of a million!
The people running this campaign knew they had to act when they found out that this terrible project could go ahead AND be funded by EU funds that are meant to 'green our economy'. [1] There is nothing green about a megaport that attracts more emissions from ships whilst destroying endangered animals!
In reality, way too many of these destructive mega projects are happening across Europe. But we are not going to wait until it happens on our own doorstep to take action. This story is ultimately a European one. So too was the Kresna Gorge highway in Bulgaria we fought, or the Rio Tinto mine in Serbia we are currently fighting. [2]
Europe is not just about EU politics. It's about what is going on in all of our hometowns, villages and countries. It’s about how we join forces to influence what is happening. That is what we are called to do now.
When a bunch of people chose YouMove Europe as the place to host their petition to protect wildlife, they knew this wasn’t another ‘local issue’. [3] After all, the baby whale 'Hope,' whose tail was cut by a boat in the sanctuary, and the reefs and turtles that suffered its same fate aren’t 'Canarian'. The activists had a vision. They knew this is an international issue – people are now responding back to their initiative: 'yes, it is, yes we care'.
Click here to see a short video of Hope, a baby whale, crying as her tail was cut by a passing boat in the sanctuary. Hope didn’t survive.
This campaign needs to be fought on different levels. Right now, I'm preparing to meet those who started this petition on the ground, and figure out how we win a campaign to stop European money from being spent on this madness. But a whole lot of people in Tenerife are hoping you will help them by signing this petition.
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This is just the beginning. Watch this space as the European fight to protect wildlife and biodiversity kicks off and becomes a story of solidarity and change.
Thank you for being part of this,
Virginia (Las Palmas de Gran
Canaria), David (London) and the entire WeMove Europe team
References:
[1] In order to protect the biodiversity of this
ecosystem, the Teno-Rasca strip was catalogued in 2011 as a Special Conservation
Zone within the Natura 2000 Network, a list of European protected areas for its
conservation. However, the map left a gap in its centre, between the towns of
Alcalá and Playa San Juan, where the construction of the port is planned.
[2]
https://www.eldiario.es/canariasahora/tenerifeahora/sociedad/campana-puerto-fonsalia-acerca-200-000-firmas-viralizarse-fuera-canarias_1_8171829.html
https://www.nationalgeographic.es/medio-ambiente/2021/07/nuevo-puerto-comercial-amenaza-reciente-santuario-de-ballenas-de-tenerife
https://www.instagram.com/tv/CR4-P7vo2rg/
https://www.instagram.com/p/CRwcDthr0Px/
[2]
https://act.wemove.eu/campaigns/Save-the-Kresna-Gorge
https://you.wemove.eu/campaigns/stop-rio-tinto-mine
[3]
You can read more information (in Spanish) about this campaign, and the growing
number of organisations supporting it here:
https://www.noalpuertodefonsalia.com
You Move Europe is an online action platform dedicated to help making Europe a more democratic, environmentally and socially just place. You Move Europe puts power in your hands. If you have an idea to make Europe a better place, You Move Europe helps you make it a reality. Petitions on this platform are started and run by civil society groups and members of the public. WeMove Europe hosts these petitions and they are in line with our values but they are not necessarily endorsed by WeMove Europe.
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