OceanCare hands over petition with over 10,000 signatures calling #EndOilExploration in Maldives
On the occasion of the International Noise Awareness Day on April 29th, OceanCare hands over more than 10,000 signatures to representatives of the Maldivian government in protest against their offshore oil exploration plans.
Mandated by the government, the Maldives National Oil Company (MNOC) intends to step up the search for oil around the coral reefs of the Maldives. Deafening airguns are to be used for such further seismic explorations. Marine conservation NGO OceanCare is criticizing these highly questionable plans and warns against extensive and irreversible damages caused by underwater noise pollution to the marine ecosystem. Given the current political situation in the Maldives, this critique is ever more pressing.
OceanCare reported that in the last couple of months the organization had requested (by phone, by email and by mail) the Permanent Mission of the Maldives to the UN for a meeting, but had not received any response. After which representatives of the organization visited the mission during official open hours, yet was refused a meeting, claiming that they had not agreed on a meeting date. However, since the Permanent Mission of the Maldives shares the infrastructure with other Commonwealth countries, the Commonwealth Secretariat had offered to take the petition and hand over to the representatives of the Maldives.
To read more about it on their press release: