Worldlog Week 13 - 2010 - Hoofdinhoud

It’s been a week full of news that includes a barbaric dolphin hunt, nature and the animals on Antarctica and astronaut apes in Russia!

Last week we asked parliamentary questions about the barbaric annual dolphin hunt on the Faroe Islands. The Party for the Animals calls for the outgoing Ministers of Foreign Affairs (BUZA) and Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (LNV) to take action to stop the cruel hunt for the pilot whale (a kind of dolphin) as quickly as possible.

Dolphins are not currently internationally protected. The Party for the Animals wants to change this as quickly as possible. I also want for Ministers Verburg (LNV) and Verhagen (BUZA) to open up for discussion the barbaric dolphin slaughter with the Danish Minister of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries as the Faroe Islands are an autonomous province of Denmark.

The pilot whales were once hunted to provide the local populace with food. These days, the hunt is no longer needed to feed the people, but this annual hunt, that takes place during the summer, has grown into a cultural tradition. Last year we initiated a protest campaign for the Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands to end the hunt. This petition (in the English language) is still running so you too can help call for an end to this barbaric slaughter!

We are additionally worried about the infringement on glorious Antarctica. My colleague Esther Ouwehand has therefore asked parliamentary questions about the current legislation’s efficacy in protecting it. The white continent, one of the last untouched places on earth, is becoming increasingly popular with tourists and we are afraid this will impinge on this valuable area. The Protection of Antarctica Act determines that the Netherlands must obtain a license for every activity that it undertakes there. The Party for the Animals has asked the responsible ministers for an overview of the number of licences awarded since 2007, and the type of activities involved.

I’m also shocked to the core about the involvement of the European Space Association's involvement in a project with astronaut apes. Russian laboratories are training apes for a mission to Mars! The European Space Association (ESA) is working with the Russian Institute for Biomedical Problems on the Mars500 project. This gives the impression that the ESA is involved with the use of apes for space experiments. The Party for the Animals wants the Minister of Economic Affairs to say if the ESA is indeed partially responsible for this ape experiment and if the Netherlands is partially financing it. The fact that apes are involved in this experiment is proved by such things as these photos from the Russian Mars500 project website.

This week we took a fantastic step forwards in promoting the awareness surrounding the effects on the climate and other negative influences of meat and cattle farming! We managed to include the Party for the Animal’s plea to introduce an excise duty on meat into Dutch economic recommendations. The study group Environment and Nature, set up by Cabinet Balkenende IV, concluded this week that introducing a levy on meat will contribute to a sustainable economy. I believe ‘the polluter pays’ is a just and effective principle to split the costs and to discourage environmental polluting behaviour. The economy and the environment need for us to apply these with haste to the Dutch tax system.

And finally - news about the large grazers in the Oostvaardersplassen nature reserve. Last weekend they received a scanty amount of hay, after pressure from the Lower House. But the animals showed very little interest in the bales of meagre hay. It does not surprise me at all. When I visited the Oostvaardersplassen a few weeks ago, there were green shoots sprouting from the ground already. Click here for a photo essay on the birth of one this year’s first foals. The photos are wonderful,… spring has sprung!

See you next week! Marianne