RE: [greenyes] Olympics in Athens

["Eric Lombardi" <eric@no.address>]

What did I miss here?  I don't see anything in the article that pits
turtle protection against Zero Waste.  What's the point of that
statement?

Eric Lombardi
Executive Director
Eco-Cycle, Inc
 

-----Original Message-----
From: C E F G :-) [mailto:hither@no.address] 
Sent: Thursday, July 01, 2004 6:37 AM
To: GRRN - GreenYes
Subject: [greenyes] Olympics in Athens

Everyone...

Please read the following story about the upcoming Olympics and consider
the following question:

What is more important to the Olympics - Zero Waste or protecting
crucial
habitats from being destroyed?

I believe that the "soon to be wasted" money would be better spent on
preserving what God uniquely provided all mankind.

PLEASE post ALL comments to GreenYes instead of sending them directly to
me.

Regards..... C. William

  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #  #
"Make every day an Earth Day."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Turtle conservation loses out to Olympics in Greece

Thursday, July 01, 2004
By Daniel Howden, Reuters

ATHENS - Greece's endangered turtles are among the first losers at this
summer's Olympics, as funding cuts have left nesting beaches at the
mercy
of uncontrolled tourism, environmental groups said on Wednesday.
The withdrawal of state funding to a marine park set aside for the
turtles has left international volunteers in a pitch battle with tourism
operators, conservationists said.
Staff at the National Marine Park on the island of Zakynthos stopped
work
in May after going unpaid for nine months.
Greece hosts the largest nesting population of the endangered
Mediterranean loggerhead turtles whose hatching cycle coincides with the
summer tourism season - and this year with the August 13 to 29 Athens
Olympics.
"This is one of the worst ecological scandals in the European Union,"
said Lilli Venizelos from turtle conservation group Medasset. "The
locals
can see the state doesn't give a damn, so they've taken the law into
their own hands."
Five beaches were protected by the park in Laganas Bay on the southern
tip of the island. One of the beaches has 13 illegal buildings that
authorities have failed to demolish.
Activists have reported speed boat races in the harbor and tourists
swarming onto the beaches.
The WWF called on Greece to stop a tourist "free for all" from
destroying
crucial habitats.
Dimitris Dimopoulos from Achelon, the sea turtle protection society,
said
the government was blaming the crisis on preparations for the August
13-29 Athens Olympics.
"Things are out of control and the official excuse we keep hearing is,
'Sorry, guys, we are a new government and we have the Olympics right
now,'" Dimopoulos said.
Loggerhead females start coming ashore to lay eggs by the end of May and
finish nesting by the end of July, so hatching begins during the peak
tourist season.
The protection of nesting sites on South Africa's Indian Ocean coast
seems to have helped, with between 350 and 500 loggerheads tagged each
season by scientists and their assistants compared to 200 or less in the
1960s, according to local wildlife officials.
(Additional reporting by Ed Stoddard in Johannesburg)

Source: Reuters