Worldlog week 24 – 2013
We had a wonderfully inspiring meeting with 8 international sister parties in the first weekend of June. The Parties for the Animals from Turkey, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Denmark, Great Britain, and Italy came to The Hague to meet and attend workshops and training sessions.
Other countries have followed our lead and created their own parties for animals. The Portuguese Party for the Animals (PAN) even conquered one seat in Madeira in 2011!
It is inspiring to see our work take root overseas! The people behind the international sister parties’ professionalism and efforts are a hopeful sign that the world will see more Parties for the Animals in the future. Citizens from all around the world can see we need to change the way we live in order to combat the many crises the world is facing. And there is a clear need for pooling our knowledge and to fight on the international politics scene for animals, nature and the environment. We’ll be sure to hold another meeting just like the last one!
It is my pleasure to report that this meeting in The Hague was organised by the Animal Politics Foundation (APF), the foundation that housed our party’s international activities. We are organising the next international conference for overseas sister parties in October. Democracy that doesn’t focus entirely on humans!
Strange, but true: The African elephant is endangered due to increased demand for ivory chopsticks in China… Nor are there any signs of it stopping when travel agencies that arrange hunting trips say such things as: “A hunter would never shoot the last bird, otherwise he would shoot his hobby to pieces”.
A report by the FAO has revealed that this year the world has consumed 112 million tonnes of pig meat – this is an incredible amount. China is responsible for half that amount. The increasing demand for pork means pig farms are swallowing up high-quality arable farming products. The upshot? Climbing food prices and increased hunger.
So it’s good to hear that ever more reports are being written and ever more parliamentarians are prepared to talk about reducing meat consumption. And it’s healthier too!
One month ago, we stood on Taksim Square in Istanbul with members of the Turkish Labour Party. And now Taksim Square is home to large scale protests against the established order. It all started with protests against the Turkish government’s plans to transform Taksim Park into a large shopping mall. I’m following the developments at Taksim Square blow by blow, and I am with you all the way, Turkey! Hopefully they will succeed in stopping the government’s plans to demolish nature. Click here for the Boston Globe’s impressive photo report.
Italy has started a petition to stop the gassing of Dutch geese. Hopefully it’ll help!
We will fight the State Secretary of Infrastructure and the Environment’s decision to trap and gas all geese within a 20 kilometre radius of Schiphol with all our might. I have asked the State Secretary for more information and have urged them to use alternative methods to ensure air traffic safety.
We need to find another way of preventing collisions between geese and aircraft than simply killing them. Large scale culls, however, do nothing to secure air traffic safety. Gassing will disrupt the goose population, so the animals will disseminate over a larger area. To be continued!
This gorgeous film is a must-see for all ages. I hope that Luiz Antonio will lead the Brazilian Labour Party when he grows up. These toddler has touched 1.3 million hearts in just four days!
See you next week, Marianne