Greenpeace Launches "Year of the Ocean" Activities in Mediterran

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

GREENPEACE LAUNCHES "YEAR OF THE OCEAN" ACTIVITIES IN
MEDITERRANEAN People in basin asked to sign petition on
Barcelona Convention to end pollution

Malta, 14 April 1998 - The Greenpeace Mediterranean Office today
launched its "Year of the Oceans" activities with an appeal to
all peoples in the basin to sign an anti-pollution  petition
linked to the 1976 Barcelona Convention. (1)

The petition voices concerns about the pollution of the marine
environment and the threat to the marine biological diversity in
the basin. And it demands that all governments in the
Mediterranean ratify all protocols and amendments related to the
Barcelona Convention. (2)

These amendments ban industrial and other toxic discharges along
the coast and in rivers, waste dumping at sea, toxic and nuclear
waste trade in the basin, all sorts oil pollution at sea, and
protect the biodiversity of the basin. For these amendments to
enter into force, three fourths of the Mediterranean states have
to submit to the Convention Secretariat in Barcelona their
written acceptance.

"Fish stocks in the basin are threatened with extinction because
of illegal driftnetting. Oil exploration and toxic pollution
from industry and the agriculture sector poison marine life and
the atmosphere. In addition, tourism development and
uncontrolled coastal development is destroying ecosystems and
the habitats of species," said in Malta Mario Damato, Executive
Director of Greenpeace Mediterranean.

"To gauge whether the 'Year of the Ocean' will be a hollow
publicity stunt, or whether it will make real achievements,
governments in the region must ratify the Barcelona Convention
amendments and protocols. The only states that have done so are
Monaco and Tunisia. All the rest are dragging their feet," he
said.

Greenpeace Mediterranean will step up its campaign against plans
to build nuclear reactors in Turkey. Industrial pollution is
another issue Greenpeace focuses on in Lebanon, Turkey and
Israel. In Malta, toxic pollution from waste incineration and
fuel-powered plants will be tackled. The issue of protecting the
Mediterranean's biodiversity in the Akamas peninsula, Cyprus,
will be highlighted to declare this area a natural park.

Greenpeace has assigned two ships, the "MV Greenpeace" and the
"Sirius", in the Mediterranean Sea this spring and summer to
show the importance it gives to the UN-declared "Year of the
Oceans".

ATTENTION EDITORS: The briefing paper "The Barcelona Convention"
can be obtained from us.

NOTES:

1. The United Nations has declared 1998 as the "International
Year of the Oceans" because the oceans and seas play an
important role in the ecological balance and the economic
development.

2. The Convention for the Protection of the Mediterranean Sea
against Pollution was adopted in Barcelona, Spain in 1976. All
Mediterranean countries and the European Union are Parties to
this Convention. Its objectives are to protect the Mediterranean
Sea against pollution from land-based sources and activities,
oil and waste dumping and from exploration and exploitation of
the sea-bed and continental shelf, and to preserve the
Mediterranean marine environment and biological diversity. These
issues are dealt with in separate implementing protocols. 

In 1995 amendments to the Convention established the
precautionary principle and set as a new and ultimate target the
full elimination of pollution sources. It also spread the sphere
of the Convention to cover the coastal areas, hence the new
title: Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment
and the Coastal region of the Mediterranean.

END

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