HISTORY OF GREENPEACE

It was born in 1971 of a group of antinuclear American activists who had sheltered in Canada not to take part in the war of Vietnam, they formed a small organization called: " Don't make a wave “ This group was protesting against the nuclear tests.

After carrying out other initiatives, they decided to to travel to the zone where the nuclear test had to take place, to prevent that the bomb was detonated.

In this trip they decided to be called Greenpeace. Though it was´t possible to prevent the nuclear test, the trip was successful and the Canadian people were interested in the offer. Many events led to U.S. finished with nuclear explosions.

In the following years, there were more groups of Greenpeace USA, New Zealand and Australia which prevented the nuclear French activities in the Pacific Ocean.

In 1974, one Greenpeace's sector in USA and Canada it decided to start a campaign against the commercial hunt for whales and, then, in 1976 against the slaughter of seals in Canada.

Meanwhile, Mc Taggart was founding Greenpeace in Europe. In 1978, Greenpeace was transformed into an international O.N.G, and since then the organization has advanced with his projects.

Greenpeace is now the biggest organization of the world, with very important achievements and activists who are ready to give his life for the planet.

OBJECTIVES

The aim is to protect and defend the environment, intervening at different points on the planet where people attack Nature. To this end, the organization is campaigning to stop climate change, protect biodiversity, to end the use of nuclear energy and weapons and promote peace.

Actually Greenpeace has nearly three million members worldwide. With them, the organization tries to help the global environment.

CAMPAIGNS

Forests: Apart from obtaining goods of them, the forests are important in the climatic regulation, the maintenance of the sources and flows of water and the conservation of the soils. For it, the jungles and the forests are possibly the natural heritage more important but also most threatened and destroyed by the hand of the man. In Argentina for the extension of the agricultural surface already thousands of trees have felled, which does not have precedents in the history.

Greenpeace holds that the use of the resources must be ordered and sustainable. To protect the ecosystem, to use responsibly the natural resources and to restore the forests and jungles destroyed and degraded, it is what the organization proposes because they are affecting the natural reservations.

Whales: Greenpeace's action has been fundamental to stop the slaughter of whales. On the high seas, hunts have been interrupted, it has been informed of the debates in the international organizations and they have protested pacifically in embassies and governments of countries in order that they suspend the hunt. In 1975, Greenpeace started this campaign, because the whales were endangered.

Through public campaigns and political work, Greenpeace succeeded in having the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in 1982 decreed a law against commercial whaling. At present, only Japan, Norway and Iceland continue this illegal activity. Greenpeace works in these countries to generate a change of consciousness and for society of these countries know the reality of whaling.