Greenpeace Australia Pacific
Encyclopedia
Greenpeace Australia Pacific (GPAP) is the regional office of the global environmental organization Greenpeace
. Greenpeace Australia Pacific one of Australia's
largest environmental
organisations.
, a children's author, set out for Mururoa via New Zealand as Greenpeace IV but arrived after the final nuclear test for the year.
An activist group, the Whale and Dolphin Coalition, formed in Sydney by Australian photographer Jonny Lewis and French businessman Jean-Paul Fortom-Gouin, invited Canadian Bob Hunter, Greenpeace co-founder and its first president, and his wife Bobbi, Greenpeace's first treasurer, to Australia in 1977. They needed their expertise honed in the North Pacific against the Soviet whaling fleet.
Greenpeace's first direct action in Australia opened on 28 August 1977, at Albany, Western Australia
against Australia's last whaling station. Over the next three weeks, Lewis, Fortom-Gouin, Bob Hunter and Australians Tom Barber and Allan Simmons used Zodiacs to place themselves between the harpoons of the three whale chaser ships and sperm whales up to 30 miles offshore. There were two near misses with harpoons but no injuries.
The Whale and Dolphin Coalition then morphed into Greenpeace Australia with animal rights campaigner Richard Jones registering the entity and Sydney journalist Jodi Adams becoming Greenpeace Australia's first coordinator. The organisation's first assets included a Zodiac from the Albany campaign.
Australians harpooned their last whale -- a female sperm whale -- on 20 November 1978. The Cheynes Beach Whaling Company ended operations the next day.
has been very successful, and the issue has had some support from the Australian Government since the late 1990s.
The organisation also campaigns against nuclear weapons and nuclear power
, deforestation
, the release of genetically engineered organisms
into the natural environment, climate change
, toxics, bottom trawling
and overfishing
. It uses tactics of non-violent direct action to draw attention to what it considers significant threats to the environment, and then lobbies for solutions.
Solutions include clean energy, protection of ancient forests, establishment of marine reserve
s, protection of biodiversity
and government and international regulation of environmentally destructive practices. Greenpeace is also about saving the whales
Greenpeace
Greenpeace is a non-governmental environmental organization with offices in over forty countries and with an international coordinating body in Amsterdam, The Netherlands...
. Greenpeace Australia Pacific one of Australia's
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
largest environmental
Environmentalism
Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks to incorporate the concerns of non-human elements...
organisations.
Origins and Formation
In 1974 the ship La Flor, from Melbourne, Australia, skippered by Rolf HeimannRolf Heimann
Rolf Heimann is an Australian author, cartoonist and illustrator.Heimann was born in Dresden, Germany, fled to the West in 1955 and migrated to Australia in 1959....
, a children's author, set out for Mururoa via New Zealand as Greenpeace IV but arrived after the final nuclear test for the year.
An activist group, the Whale and Dolphin Coalition, formed in Sydney by Australian photographer Jonny Lewis and French businessman Jean-Paul Fortom-Gouin, invited Canadian Bob Hunter, Greenpeace co-founder and its first president, and his wife Bobbi, Greenpeace's first treasurer, to Australia in 1977. They needed their expertise honed in the North Pacific against the Soviet whaling fleet.
Greenpeace's first direct action in Australia opened on 28 August 1977, at Albany, Western Australia
Albany, Western Australia
Albany is a port city in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, some 418 km SE of Perth, the state capital. As of 2009, Albany's population was estimated at 33,600, making it the 6th-largest city in the state....
against Australia's last whaling station. Over the next three weeks, Lewis, Fortom-Gouin, Bob Hunter and Australians Tom Barber and Allan Simmons used Zodiacs to place themselves between the harpoons of the three whale chaser ships and sperm whales up to 30 miles offshore. There were two near misses with harpoons but no injuries.
The Whale and Dolphin Coalition then morphed into Greenpeace Australia with animal rights campaigner Richard Jones registering the entity and Sydney journalist Jodi Adams becoming Greenpeace Australia's first coordinator. The organisation's first assets included a Zodiac from the Albany campaign.
Australians harpooned their last whale -- a female sperm whale -- on 20 November 1978. The Cheynes Beach Whaling Company ended operations the next day.
Amalgamation and campaigns since 1998
In early 1998 Greenpeace Australia and Greenpeace Pacific teamed up to become Greenpeace Australia Pacific (GPAP). The campaign against whalingWhaling
Whaling is the hunting of whales mainly for meat and oil. Its earliest forms date to at least 3000 BC. Various coastal communities have long histories of sustenance whaling and harvesting beached whales...
has been very successful, and the issue has had some support from the Australian Government since the late 1990s.
The organisation also campaigns against nuclear weapons and nuclear power
Nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...
, deforestation
Deforestation
Deforestation is the removal of a forest or stand of trees where the land is thereafter converted to a nonforest use. Examples of deforestation include conversion of forestland to farms, ranches, or urban use....
, the release of genetically engineered organisms
Genetic engineering
Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification, is the direct human manipulation of an organism's genome using modern DNA technology. It involves the introduction of foreign DNA or synthetic genes into the organism of interest...
into the natural environment, climate change
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
, toxics, bottom trawling
Bottom trawling
Bottom trawling is trawling along the sea floor. It is also often referred to as "dragging".The scientific community divides bottom trawling into benthic trawling and demersal trawling...
and overfishing
Overfishing
Overfishing occurs when fishing activities reduce fish stocks below an acceptable level. This can occur in any body of water from a pond to the oceans....
. It uses tactics of non-violent direct action to draw attention to what it considers significant threats to the environment, and then lobbies for solutions.
Solutions include clean energy, protection of ancient forests, establishment of marine reserve
Marine reserve
For the United States Marine Corps Reserve see: Marine Forces ReserveA marine reserve is an area of the sea which has legal protection against fishing or development. This is to be distinguished from a marine park, but there is some overlap in usage...
s, protection of biodiversity
Biodiversity
Biodiversity is the degree of variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or an entire planet. Biodiversity is a measure of the health of ecosystems. Biodiversity is in part a function of climate. In terrestrial habitats, tropical regions are typically rich whereas polar regions...
and government and international regulation of environmentally destructive practices. Greenpeace is also about saving the whales
See also
- Australian conservation Foundation
- Nature Conservation Council of NSW
- Environment Victoria
- Conservation Council of Western Australia
- GetUp
- Anti-nuclear movement in AustraliaAnti-nuclear movement in AustraliaNuclear testing, uranium mining and export, and nuclear energy have often been the subject of public debate in Australia, and the anti-nuclear movement in Australia has a long history...
- Environmental Defender's Office NSWEnvironmental Defender's Office NSWThe Environmental Defender's Office is one of nine EDO offices located across Australia, collectively known as the Australian Network of EDOs ....