The Berlin Initiative - IWMC addresses the Media

Berlin, 15 June 2003: Our old foes in the "environmental" NGO's have long aspired to subvert the IWC to their will and collective theme park agendas. A craven majority that has little direct interest in whales and whaling have assisted them in this regard. However, a successful rearguard action by committed sustainable use nations has frustrated this NGO effort, to the point where, last year, the US, albeit temporarily, was obliged to pay a price for its ham fistedness, while Iceland successfully joined the ranks of IWC members. But our friends the NGO's do not take frustration lightly and now, having failed to take over the IWC by votes, they are proposing to turn to the old capitalist option and simply buy the place.

The so-called "conservation initiative" that the IWC will shortly be called upon to consider proposes that a new "Conservation Committee" be established and that it be cleared to accept external funding. This is no hidden agenda - the purpose of the proposal is breathtakingly transparent - the proponents wish to establish, within the official IWC, a wealthy, well-funded entity that will be totally subservient to the agenda of its paymasters. As the proposal's Mexican proposers know from personal experience, power follows money and, as soon as the external funding begins to flow, governance is corrupted and the members of this so-called "Conservation Committee" will be obliged to dance to the tune called by the funders who will, presumably, be the same men and women who already provide the NGO's with their spacious headquarters and generous salaries.

Does it occur to no-one to ask what, exactly, the Scientific Committee exists for if not to ascertain the effectiveness of IWC conservation measures? But, of course, the problem faced by the proposers of this "conservation" resolution have something of a problem with science, which frequently provides them with answers which do not conform with their political and cultural prejudices. Consequently, science, itself, must be subverted and side-stepped, as it will be here by the establishment of this new committee.

The bitter irony here is that exponents of this "Berlin initiative" have no real interest in conservation. They know little of nature and want to learn less. Their concept of wildlife and their relationship to it is a distinctly urban one, with nature held at arms length, sealed behind plexiglass, available for viewing only, with no human interaction. This vision has been gloriously anachronistic since the first day that homo sapiens sowed seeds and shepherded cattle.

True conservation is a difficult and dynamic topic, necessitating a careful calculation of man's proper place in the natural world and his correct interaction with the wildlife resources of the planet. The authors of the Berlin initiative know nothing of this, their philosophy is much simpler - take the money and shut up.

For further information, contact Eugène Lapointe
Switzerland: +41.79.327-3034 or email: iwmc@iwmc.org