We're taking our campaign to protect whales from deadly naval sonar to the doorstep of NATO -- and we need your help.

Please go to http://www.savebiogems.org/whales/takeaction.asp and send a message to the secretary general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and to NATO ambassadors, urging their member countries to stop deploying high-powered sonar systems in sensitive whale habitats around the world.

Last month we began making our case directly to NATO officials. Now it's critically important that they hear a worldwide outcry from concerned citizens in support of our cause.

As the military alliance of 26 nations -- including the United States -- NATO includes the world's biggest users of lethal military sonar. In fact, several mass strandings of whales have been linked directly to joint NATO exercises, including strandings in the Canary Islands and along the coast of Greece.

There is no dispute that intense bursts of high-powered sonar can and do kill whales. The scientists of the International Whaling Commission have stated that the evidence linking such naval sonar to whale strandings appears "overwhelming."

The scientific journal "Nature" has reported that intense, active sonar may kill marine mammals by causing their internal organs to hemorrhage.

In the face of this alarming evidence, it's simply cruel and wrong to use high-powered sonar in routine training exercises without taking common-sense steps to protect whales, dolphins and other marine life. That's why a worldwide coalition of environmental groups, including NRDC, is pressuring NATO and its member countries to stop inflicting this needless suffering on marine mammals.

Please make your own voice heard in defense of whales right now. Go to http://www.savebiogems.org/whales/takeaction.asp and call on NATO to take immediate steps to protect marine mammals from deadly sonar.

Thank you for taking action.

Sincerely,

John H. Adams
President
Natural Resources Defense Council

AFP

February 21, 2005

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1540&ncid=1540&e=6&u=/afp/20050221/sc_afp/environmentunkenya_050221172602


Informant: NHNE

Tierschutz: Besorgnis um das Überleben von Gemeinen Delfinen im Englischen Kanal (18.02.05)

Die Ergebnisse einer Studie an Gemeinen Delfinen im Englischen Kanal während der Wintermonate haben die Besorgnis um das Überleben dieser Tiere verstärkt. Die Wal- und Delfinschutzorganisation WDCS fordert zusammen mit Greenpeace ein Verbot der Seebarsch-Schleppnetzfischerei im Kanal. In einem neuen Bericht geben Wissenschaftler der WDCS eine vorläufige Schätzung von 9700 Gemeinen Delfinen in dem Gebiet des Kanals, in dem während der Studie im vergangenen Winter auch die Hauptfischereiaktivitäten stattfanden.

Die ganze Nachricht im Internet:

http://www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php4?Nr=10489

I recall that in 2001 - a freak snow storm in Mexico killed millions of Monarchs (butterflies, that is). Now only 75% of the Monarch Butterfly population is showing up in Mexico?? There is alot of fingerpointing in this article - but the fact is there appears to be a serious problem here regardless of who's to blame.

Any other documentation on this subject is appreciated.

Peace - Anna


Begin forwarded message:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1894&ncid=1894&e=3&u=/ap/20050217/ap_on_sc/mexico_monarch_butterflies

Studie: Pipeline-Bau an Rußlands Küste gefährdet Wale (16.02.05)

Die Ausbeutung der Öl- und Gasvorkommen im Ochotskischen Meer vor der russischen Insel Sachalin gefährdet die Existenz der letzten hundert Westpazifischen Grauwale. Zu diesem Schluss kommt eine am Mittwoch in der Schweiz veröffentliche Expertenstudie der Weltnaturschutzunion IUCN. Die Autoren, 14 führende Walforscher, kritisieren vor allem den geplanten Bau einer Ölpipeline durch die Nahrungsgründe der seltenen Wale. Die Studie war vom Betreiberkonsortium der umstrittenen Pipeline, der "Sakhalin Energy Investment Company" selbst in Auftrag gegeben worden. Die "Sakhalin Energy Investment Company" steht unter anderem unter Federführung der Shell AG.

Die ganze Nachricht im Internet:

http://www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php4?Nr=10455

This is an urgent call to action. Montana State Senator Gerald Pease has just introduced a preposterous bill, SB353, that would "transfer neutered wild bison to tribal organizations" who want to start a buffalo herd, or increase an existing herd. Read the text of the bill:
http://data.opi.state.mt.us/bills/2005/billhtml/SB0353.htm

It is bad enough that our last wild herd of buffalo are subjected to hazing, capture, slaughter, quarantine, and vaccination. Now, they want to dishonor and disrespect them further by neutering wild buffalo in an effort to start herds elsewhere. We beg the Senator to please explain to all of us how buffalo stripped of their fertility are going to procreate? This legislation is an insult to buffalo, the Indian people, and all who care about wildness. The arrogance and ignorance behind this bill is astounding.

Buffalo Field Campaign thoroughly supports efforts to increase buffalo herds on tribal lands and all lands where buffalo once roamed, but let them get their on their own. Let us refocus the misguided efforts of the state and federal governments by moving away from issues of hazing, capturing, quarantining and trucking buffalo, and instead establish protected corridors to allow the buffalo to return to and re-inhabit their native range on their own.

TAKE ACTION! Tomorrow, Wednesday, February 9, the Montana Senate Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing on SB353 in Helena at 3:00 pm. BFC will be there to speak out against this bill. PLEASE call and email each of the Committee members and urge them to stand up for wild buffalo in Montana. To email the legislators, use their online message form (see below). After entering your information, scroll down to the bottom and enter the bill number (SB353) and let them know how you feel they should vote. You'll want to do this for each committee member listed below. If everyone who reads this message takes this action, we can swamp the Montana Capitol Switchboard and demonstrate the groundswell of support behind the wild buffalo of Yellowstone and Montana. Please also contact Governor Brian Schweitzer and urge him to veto this outlandish bill should it make it to his desk. Contact information is below.

NOTE: It is very likely that some Montana legislators will claim that any one from out-of-state should mind their own business, but there is one very key thing they fail to realize: the Yellowstone buffalo are a National Treasure honored and respected for their wildness by people from across the country and around the world. Let them know how you feel today!

MONTANA LEGISLATURE ONLINE MESSAGE SERVICE:
http://leg.state.mt.us/css/sessions/59th/legwebmessage.asp
Use this link to individually choose each of the Senate Natural Resource Committee members below

MONTANA LEGISLATURE SWITCHBOARD: 406-444-4800 (ask to be transferred to each Senator listed below)

SENATE NATURAL RESOURCES COMMITTEE MEMBERS TO CONTACT:
Glen Roush, Chair (D-SD8)
Aubyn Curtiss (R-SD1)
Kelly Gebhardt (R-SD23)
Dan W. Harrington (D-SD38)
Gary L. Perry (R-SD35)
Bill Tash (R-SD36)
Ken Toole (D-SD41)
Mike Wheat (D-SD32)

And just for good measure...
Gerald Pease (D-SD21)

Governor Brian Schweitzer
(406) 444-3111
governor@state.mt.us

THANK YOU for taking action to help save the last wild herd of buffalo in the country!



Buffalo Field Campaign
P.O. Box 957
West Yellowstone, MT 59758
406-646-0070
bfc-media@wildrockies.org
http://www.buffalofieldcampaign.org

BFC is the only group working in the field every day to defend the last wild herd of buffalo in America.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/en/Outlook/07Feb2005_out31.php


Informant: Deane T. Rimerman

Der Evolutionsbiologe, Harvard-Professor und Begründer der Soziobiologie, Edward Wilson, ist seit Jahren schon der Meinung, dass jeden Tag etwa 150 Tier- und Pflanzenarten durch Ausrotten aussterben. Jetzt hat der Professor mit seinen umstrittenen Thesen erneut für Aufsehen gesorgt. Bei einer UNESCO-Konferenz in Paris sagte Edward Wilson voraus, dass bis zum Ende des 21. Jahrhunderts nicht einmal die Hälfte aller heute existierenden Tier- und Pflanzenarten überleben werden, wenn die Menschen damit fortfahren, Organismen und Lebensräume zu zerstören, z.B. durch den Klimawandel.

http://www.sonnenseite.com/fp/archiv/Akt-News/5934.php