WWF Logo


WWF Press Release






Back to the News Room

Related Information:

Endangered Seas Campaign

Whales In The Wild



WWF And Europe Conservation Call On France, Italy And Monaco To Sign Whale Sanctuary Treaty

January 30, 1998

Upholding the cause of the whales, WWF's Mediterranean Programme Office drew attention to its campaign for a whale sanctuary with this 90-foot inflatable whale, during the International Whaling Commission meeting in Monaco in October.
ROME--WWF-World Wide Fund For Nature and Europe Conservation today called on the governments of France, Italy and Monaco to sign a treaty establishing a whale sanctuary in the Ligurian Sea area of the Mediterranean Sea.   

The two groups joined forces and today launched a new joint campaign to push  government leaders to sign a treaty that would establish an "International Pelagic Sanctuary" in an area where approximately 2,000 whales and thousands of other cetaceans gather to feed during the summer months.

Despite pressure from local  Italian authorities in the  Regione Liguria and initiatives taken recently by several international figures, including England's HRH Prince Philip and Prince Rainier of Monaco, the governments of France, Italy and Monaco have not yet signed the treaty they originally agreed to in a 1993 declaration of intent. 

The main provisions of the declaration ban  driftnet fishing in the area, provide the strict banning of all off-shore boating competitions, and urge the enforcement of pollution control measures. Since 1993, the French and Italian governments have not made any further concrete steps to reach a binding agreement.

For this reason WWF and Europe Conservation are now calling for negotiations among the governments of  France, Italy and Monaco to be re-opened immediately.  The two environmental groups are calling on the three to sign the  treaty as a "Gift to the Earth" as part of the United Nation's Year of the Ocean.

Today, a mere 0.22% of the Mediterranean marine area is protected. The establishment of a Mediterranean Whales Park would increase the area protected to  4 %. In total, the park would cover approximately  100,000 Km} , ranging from  France's Giens peninsula,  to Cape Caccia in northern Sardinia,  and from the Bonifacio Strait to Grosseto in Italy.

A further proposal to widen the borders up to the Balearic Islands in Spain--an area well-known as a crucial stopover in whale migration routes--will soon be put forward by WWF to  Spanish authorities.  In addition, the recently signed Protocol on Biodiversity and Specially Protected Areas of the Barcelona Convention specifically sets up the legal framework for the establishment of protected areas in the Mediterranean. With their new Campaign, WWF and Europe Conservation are pushing for the  Mediterranean Whales Park to be the first of these Special Protected Areas of Mediterranean Importance (SPAMI).

The Mediterranean Whales Park Campaign will last throughout 1998 and will include various initiatives to increase public awareness and lobby national governments. Supporters of the campaign include: Acquario di Genova, FIN - Italian Swimming Federation, MISA - Mediterranean International Sea-Swimmers Association, LNI - Italian Naval League of Pantelleria and Mazara del Vallo and Eco Guides Sans Frontiers. Various entertainment personalities  including: Bruno Lauzi, Enrica Bonaccorti,

Gino Paoli and Paolo Villaggio are also backing the campaign.

The opening event will be held tonight at the Acquario di Genova with a fundraising dinner party. All the funds WWF and Europe Conservation raise through the Campaign will be used both to improve the scientific knowledge of the behaviour, and state of conservation of cetaceans in the area, and to increase public awareness.

CONTACT:
Alessandra Poggiani, Communications Officer,
WWF Mediterranean Programme Office,
tel. 39-6-844 97 424,
mobile 0039 - (0) 347 - 23 70 456
(languages: English, Italian)

Giulietta Rak, Assistant
at WWF Mediterranean Programme Office,
tel.39-6-844 97 360
(languages: English, Spanish, Italian)

WWF is known as World Wildlife Fund in Canada and the United States.