Activism: petition against oil exploration near award-winning marine reserve
Note: mongabay.com does not endorse the action below, but believes its readers may be interested in taking action or discussing the issue in comments.
Leather back sea turtles are one of four marine turtle species in the Seaflower MPA. Photo by: Tiffany Roufs.
The Providence Foundation has created a petition against oil exploration near, and perhaps even inside, Seaflower Marine Protected Area in the Colombian Caribbean. The park recently won top honors at the Convention on Biological Diversity in Japan for its combination of protection and sustainable livelihoods for local people.
“Confirmation by the National Agency of Hydrocarbons of the oil prospection in the North Cays […] constitutes an atrocity that will be committed against nature, the native population of the islands and the entire world. The Archipelago is a Patrimony of Humanity, recognized by UNESCO since 2000,” June Marie Mow, Executive Director of the local organization Providence Foundation, told mongabay.com, referring to proposed oil prospecting as “environmental and social aggression”.
To read more about the threat to Seaflower MPA:
‘Environmental and social aggression’: oil exploration threatens award-winning marine protected area
Colombian marine reserve receives top honors at global biodiversity meeting
