Blue whale gets less protection than the medicinal leech
The Government goes to court today (11th October 1999) to defend itself against a legal action by Greenpeace over official failure to protect marine life in the north east Atlantic. Greenpeace has launched a judicial review of the UK Government's refusal to apply wildlife protection law up to 200 nautical miles from the coast despite the fact that the Government claims fisheries and mineral rights over this area. The Government has been joined by oil companies, who say that if Greenpeace are successful it will cause problems for new oil exploration and licensing.
Peter Melchett, Executive Director of Greenpeace, said:
"We are currently in the ridiculous position of giving whales and dolphins less protection than the medicinal leech and leaving vulnerable marine wildlife at the mercy of oil exploration. This case has the backing of Britain's largest wildlife groups and is a direct challenge to Tony Blair to deliver on his promise to put the environment at the heart of policy making."
The case is centred on the UK Government's decision to limit the application of the EU Habitats Directive to only 12 nautical miles from the coast, even though the European Commission and other EU states have interpreted the law differently [1] and despite the high wildlife value of the marine environment. Greenpeace is particularly concerned with the north east Atlantic - the so called Atlantic Frontier - where oil exploration threatens populations of whales and dolphins as well as deep water coral reefs and other marine life. Many other organisations in the UK are supporting the Greenpeace case including the RSPB, the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society and the World Wide Fund for Nature. [2] If the Government loses the case it will have to implement the directive up to 200 nautical miles from land and reconsider allowing any further oil exploration around the UK coast.
This will require the Government to conduct a full environmental assessment of marine life, identify areas that are of particularly high wildlife value (called Special Protection Areas) and ensure adequate protection for vulnerable species and habitats. Survey work by Greenpeace and the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society has already confirmed that the Atlantic Frontier is populated with many whale and dolphin species. Twenty-two species of whales and dolphins have been identified in the area including rare blue and fin whales. The Atlantic Frontier is home to the deep-water coral reef Lophelia Pertusa.
The legal case has caused concern within the oil industry, which says that it creates huge uncertainties for future oil exploration. As interpretation of European law is at the heart of the case, it may be the European Court of Justice that ultimately decides it. The case also exposes the fundamental contradiction at the heart of Government policy, which permits the fossil fuel industry to continually explore for new reserves while ministers claim to be actively combating climate change, by reducing our use of oil, coal and gas.
Peter Melchett continued:
"The world can only afford to burn a quarter of current fossil fuel reserves before the damage inflicted by climate change reaches unacceptable levels so it's pointless to continually prospect for new reserves which we can never afford to burn. The Government is proposing to destroy Britain's greatest ocean wilderness, the Atlantic Frontier, for the sake of oil we can never use."
Notes to Editors:
[1] How other EU states interpret the Habitats Directive: Other EU states apply the Habitats Directive differently to the UK. For instance, Denmark has applied the Habitats Directive offshore under the Protection of Nature Law 1992 and has designated three Special Areas of Conservation beyond twelve nautical miles offshore in the Kattegat. Belgium is in the process of applying the Habitats Directive to its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) while the situation is unclear in Germany. The Azores has submitted offshore sites containing sea mounts to the Portuguese Government for inclusion in its list of Special Areas of Conservation under the Habitats Directive.
[2] Organisations supporting the case: RSPB, World Wide Fund for Nature, Friends of the Earth, Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, the EIA and the Wildlife Trusts.
