wildlife

Responding to the news that the Government would not appeal the recent High Court judgement in Greenpeace's favour on the extent of the EU Habitat's Directive, Greenpeace climate campaigner Matthew Spencer said: "This is great news -We hope the Government will now implement the Directive fully. This means putting the needs of wildlife before the needs of oil exploration. Greenpeace can now confirm that we will invest any money that we receive from the Government in legal costs in renewable energy projects in Scotland."

Polar bears are under threat of starvation from climate change due to melting sea ice, a new study from scientists with the Canadian Wildlife Service concludes. The study, by Canadian polar bear scientists Ian Stirling, Nicholas J. Lunn and John Iacozza, found that the bears' main food source, ringed seals which live on the ice of Hudson Bay, are becoming less accessible because of a shorter ice season.

The Government was defeated in court today (5th November 1999) in a landmark legal ruling which protects coral reefs and whales and dolphins in Britain's North East Atlantic. Mr Justice Kay ruled that all future offshore oil licensing is illegal until the Government properly applies the EU Habitats Directive.
Justice Kay told the court that the Government had "clearly" not applied the Habitats Directive in initiating the next round of oil licensing in the North East Atlantic.

Ten oil companies today attempted to strip European citizens of the right to enforce powerful wildlife laws when their lawyers argued in the High Court that Greenpeace cannot make the Government enforce the European Union Habitats Directive.

Greenpeace's QC today branded the Government's main legal argument a breach of the organisation's human rights and an abuse of the legal process. The Government argues that Greenpeace delayed in applying for a judicial review of its oil licensing on the Atlantic Frontier and that Greenpeace should have made its application sometime over the last five years.

Blue whale gets less protection than the medicinal leech

The Government has conceded that oil and gas exploration in the Britain's North East Atlantic - the Atlantic Frontier - may harm whales and dolphins. The admission came in the High Court today where Greenpeace is taking the Government to court for failing to apply wildlife protection law up to 200 nautical miles from the coast.