Greenpeace International Director Visits Lebanon

["greenbase" <greenbas@gb.greenpeace.org>]

GREENPEACE INTERNATIONAL DIRECTOR VISITS LEBANON
Dr. Thilo Bode appeals to government to reconstruct country on
ecological-sound basis

Beirut, 20 February 1998 - The Executive Director of Greenpeace
International, Dr. Thilo Bode, said during a three-day visit to
Lebanon that the government of Lebanon should not miss the
historic chance of reconstructing the country on an
environmentally-sound basis.

"The current United Nations-declared 'Year of the Oceans' can
only be successful in Lebanon and in the whole Mediterranean
region if all countries protect the basin actively in line with
the Barcelona Convention they all signed in 1976," Dr. Bode
said.

"Fish stocks in the basin are threatened with extinction because
of destructive and indiscriminate fishing methods. Oil
exploration and toxic pollution from industry and the
agriculture sector poison marine life and the atmosphere. With
a clear agenda to end harmful practices, that increasingly have
characterized our relationship with the sea, the UN and
governments can help turn this situation around."

"Greenpeace considers the Mediterranean as a bitter example of
the threatened marine ecosystem that should be given special
attention during the 'Year Of The Oceans'. With the political
will, 1998 could mark an historic turning point in the way
government officials and industrialists look after the basin,"
he added.

Dr. Bode is visiting the countries where the Greenpeace
Mediterranean Office is active. He was already in Malta and
Turkey. After his three-day stay in Lebanon, he will continue to
Cyprus and Israel. (1)

Greenpeace appeals to all Mediterranean governments to come up
with real achievements and not just fine words and actively
support, encourage and promote a wide range of ecological
initiatives during this year. They must also sign the 1996
amendment to the Barcelona Convention Protocol on land-based
sources of pollution and the 1995 Protocol banning waste trade
in the basin.

Fouad Hamdan, Lebanon campaigner of the Greenpeace Mediterranean
Office, said: "As far as Lebanon is concerned, desperate
measures are needed fast. We are now in a situation where the
government is no longer denying our sobering analysis of a
country in ecological crisis. The short-term economical
implications, and the prioritizing of other issues on its agenda
is however delaying the concrete actions urgently needed to be
taken."

Last October, Greenpeace sampled and documented the main sources
of industrial pollution along the whole coast and inland. The
test results of the samples will be published next March.

Greenpeace on the Internet at http://www.greenpeace.org

NOTE: 

1. The Greenpeace Mediterranean office is a regional office
responsible for Greenpeace activities in the southern and
Eastern Mediterranean. It is presently focused on Cyprus,
Israel, Lebanon and Turkey from its headquarters in Malta and
staff based in these countries.

END