PRESIDENT OF the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) International, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, is appealing to the Caribbean region for full support in voting against Japan's efforts to reopen commercial whaling at an upcoming International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting.
The meeting, which began yesterday, is to be hosted in Saint Kitts and Nevis until June 20.
'INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION'
In his open letter to the Commonwealth Heads of Government, Chief Anyaoku expressed the WWF's discomfort with the move and called for "international cooperation" to ensure the mammals' survival.
"WWF is concerned that a number of countries are supporting the efforts of Japan to reopen commercial whaling," he said. "I seek the support of your country for whale conservation - in keeping with global agreements such as the World Summit on Sustainable Development and the Convention on Biological Diversity, for the benefit of both the whales and sustainable development."
The regulated management of legitimate and science-based whaling is one of the functional roles of the IWC. The organisation is made up of 66 member countries, including Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
