Bournemouth & Poole Greenpeace have collected over 200 messages written by local people, which form part of a petition Bournemouth & Poole Greenpeace presented to the Boscombe BP Garage, making clear the people of Bournemouth do not support this British company’s reckless plans to drill near the Amazon Reef.
Bournemouth & Poole Greenpeace have been running stalls on Boscombe Beach, at the Bournemouth University Festival of Learning, the Tolpuddle Martyrs’ Festival 2017 and the massive Greenpeace Summer Jam which took place Saturday 29th July at Chaplins Bar in Boscombe. At these events the local Greenpeace team have been engaging with members of the public to inform them about the little known and unique reef [1],and BP’s dangerous plans.Greenpeace activists were joined at these stalls by SpongeBob SquarePants, hero of the world’s longest running cartoon series, who is standing up for the sea sponges and corals threatened by BP’s plans.
SpongeBob and Bournemouth & Poole Greenpeace have been asking local people to write postcards to BP’s CEO, Bob Dudley, imploring him and BP to act responsibly, cancel their plans to drill, and avoid endangering a biome which is like no other on earth.
Over a million people have signed a petition demanding BP halt their plans, and the people of Bournemouth & Poole are proud to add their voices to this global call for BP to be responsible and keep away from the Amazon Reef.
Simon O’Connor, a local Greenpeace activist said: “Scientists have only explored 5% of this unique reef, which may be home to animals and plants new to science. But before the reef can even be fully explored and documented, BP want to drill for oil nearby. BP’s drilling puts this unique and largely unexplored reef under threat of an oil spill. This could cause irreparable damage to the reef, and also harm the world’s longest stretch of mangrove forest on the local coastline.”
Bournemouth & Poole Greenpeace, accompanied by SpongeBob, presented a petition based on these messages to the manager of Boscombe BP Garage, making clear that the local community in Bournemouth does not support this British company’s plans to endanger one of the world’s most untouched places.
Simon continued: “The people of Bournemouth & Poole have delivered a clear message to BP. After the disappointment and subsequent re-branding of the Boscombe Surf Reef, we don’t want a similar situation where the newly discovered Amazon Reef is inadvertently rebranded as an oil field by BP. The people of Bournemouth & Poole are calling on BP to listen to the voice of local people, and not risk yet another disastrous oil spill, which could destroy this incredible, unique Reef.”
For further information, please contact Simon O’Connor, email address [email protected] or telephone number 07955 659008.
Notes:
[1] Because of the murky water in the area, caused by the sediment from the Amazon River, the reef is formed through chemo-synthesis, not photo-synthesis. – https://energydesk.greenpeace.org/2017/01/30/amazon-reef-mouth-bp-total-oil-drilling/
[2] The Brazilian Federal Prosecutor’s office have said that BP’s environmental risk assessment “did not take into account the important ecosystem of the coral reef of the mouth of the Amazon River. Thus, exploration in an area close to the corals, without adequate environmental impact study, can cause irreperable damage to this unique and little known biome” – https://energydesk.greenpeace.org/2017/05/10/amazon-reef-bp-and-totals-plans-dealt-blow-by-prosecutors-decision/
[3] Greenpeace believe that the oil company’s environmental assessment of planned drilling has underestimated the risks posed by drilling and other support activities in the area. – https://uk.businessinsider.com/r-greenpeace-says-total-underestimated-drilling-risks-near-amazon-reef-2017-5
[3] Scientists have described the reef as being “a biodiversity hotspot on a par with the Great Barrier Reef” – https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/feb/17/we-are-rewriting-the-textbooks-first-dives-to-amazon-coral-reef-stun-scientists
[4] Global petition link – https://amazonreefs.org/
Marcus Carter
