WWF already has almost 50,000 supporters for the creation of a whale and dolphin sanctuary off the coasts of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura. This was announced by the environmental organization this Friday, coinciding with World Whale Day. This "sanctuary", they explain, seeks to "conserve" up to 29 species of cetaceans. WWF has also indicated that it will "continue working" with the new government for its creation "urgently".
In its statement, WWF recalls that, "despite the announcement of the withdrawal of Repsol's oil project, permits to carry out up to two more surveys in the area remain in force until 2017". "This leaves the door open to a possible resumption of drilling in one of the richest areas for cetaceans in the world," they point out.
In this sense, the organization "demands that the Administration activate the established procedures to definitively withdraw oil exploration permits", and urges the "new Government to resume the original scientific proposal for a marine protected area to declare a whale and dolphin sanctuary to the east and south of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura".
"Institutional, scientific and social" support
The Sanctuary petition promoted by WWF already has more than 49,000 signatures on its website. According to the environmental group, the proposal has also gathered "important institutional, scientific and social support inside and outside of Spain". Among them, they explain, are the Parliament and Government of the Canary Islands, the island councils of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, 20 MEPs from "various groups and political forces with representation" in the European Parliament and the "majority" of Political Groups in the Congress and the Senate. "Nearly fifty scientists dedicated to the research and conservation of cetaceans have also joined," they add, emphasizing "very especially" the support of the "almost 50,000 people who have already signed the Sanctuary petition".
Juan Carlos del Olmo, Secretary General of WWF Spain, has stressed that "the creation of a large MPA for cetaceans in the Canary Islands would significantly contribute to the conservation of these emblematic animals and their habitat". "On World Whale Day, WWF asks that more citizens support our petition and join Canary Island institutions and scientists. WWF will continue working to ensure that the new government protects this area," he says. "Only in this way can we ensure the conservation of whales and dolphins and prevent the threats that stalk them: gas and oil exploration, collisions with boats, marine noise or military maneuvers," concludes Del Olmo.
WWF explains in its statement that "the marine waters of the east and south of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura constitute a unique exponent for cetaceans in Europe, harboring more than a third of the total number of species known on the planet". "The exceptional abundance and diversity of cetaceans recorded, with the prominent presence of resident populations of various deep-sea species such as beaked whales, pilot whales and sperm whales, rare and little known globally, make this peculiar enclave of the Atlantic the most important in the European Union for whales and dolphins and one of the most relevant worldwide, vital for reproduction, feeding and migratory passage," the environmental organization points out about this space located off the coasts of the island.