International conservation NGOs OceanCare and NRDC, as well as Alianza Mar Blava, a coalition of non-profit organisations and the private sector of the Balearic Islands, welcome the statement published today by tourism federations criticising plans to search for petroleum reservoirs in the waters around the Balearic Islands. Issuing a press release this morning, both the Swiss and the Austrian travel federation expressed their concern about the project by British petroleum company Cairn Energy. The two federations, representing more than 1200 travel agencies and tour operators, consider the risks as too high and the project as incompatible with long-term interests and the reputation of this top tourism hotspot.

• Letter from the Austrian Travel Association (ÖRV – Österreichischer ReiseVerband). (PDF)
• Letter from the Swiss Travel Association (SRV – Schweizer Reise-Verband). (PDF)

“It’s a strong and necessary signal by the economic sector that is most vital for the Balearic Islands. Rejection of the petroleum industry’s plans is so overwhelming that one is wondering why the decision makers – who were elected by the people – did not yet dismiss this project, as demanded by the people”, says Sigrid Lüber, president of OceanCare. Recently it was announced that more than 125,000 people, 117,000 of them living in the Balearic Islands, filed their official objections against the project. This accounts to a tenth of the total population of the popular holiday destinations Formentera, Ibiza, Mallorca and Menorca.
Already the exploration for oil and gas reservoirs is posing a big threat to marine wildlife around the Balearic Islands by applying unimaginably loud airguns that may displace, injure or even kill whales, dolphins and other marine animals, including commercially used fish. A few weeks ago, it was exposed that already last year seismic activities were carried out without a permit! “Scientists got alerted to the seismic activities by unusual behaviour of sperm whales. But authorities and petroleum industry keep their lips sealed”, criticises Nicolas Entrup, consultant to OceanCare and NRDC.
Drillings, especially in deep waters, pose a further threat. In case of an accident, irreparable damage is caused both to the economy and the ecology of the archipelago. “The petroleum industry and the Spanish government have to accept limits, too, and refrain from searching for oil in regions of special ecological and economical importance, like the Western Mediterranean”, demands Carlos Bravo, coordinator with the regional initiative Alianza Mar Blava.
The conservationists expect the decision on the project’s environmental impact assessment soon. But the Spanish government is playing for time. In spring 2015 there will be elections to the regional government of the Balearic Islands, followed by general elections in Spain in autumn. The dispute about the planned oil development is increasingly becoming a main issue. Not least will the decision point the direction of Spain’s future energy policy.
Media contacts

• Sigrid Lüber, president of OceanCare, slueber@oceancare.org, T: +41-44-7806688, M: +41-79-4752687
• Nicolas Entrup, consultant to OceanCare und NRDC, n.entrup@shiftingvalues.com, M. +43 660 211 9963
• Carlos Bravo, Alianza Mar Blava, carlos.bravo@salviateam.eu, +34 626 99 82 41

OceanCare initiated the campaign “Silent Oceans” and is working for the protection of oceans and marine life since 1989. Through scientific and conservation projects, campaigns and intensive work in international fora, OceanCare is taking concrete steps to improve living conditions in the world’s oceans. The organisation was appointed UN Special Consultant for marine protection in 2011 and is an official partner of the Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans in the Black Sea and Mediterranean Sea (ACCOBAMS). www.oceancare.org
NRDC is a major American non-profit organization of scientists, lawyers and environmental specialists dedicated to protecting public health and the environment. Founded in 1970, the organization has 1.3 million members and online activists, supporting national and international work on energy, wildlife, oceans, and other issues. www.nrdc.org
Alianza Mar Blava is a cross-sector alliance with more than 75 members of public, private and social institutions, representing the full range of social and economic actors in the Ibiza and Formentera isles in the Balearic Islands. It is composed by public administrations (the governments of the islands and the town halls); economic sectors such as fishing communities, the tourist and nautical sectors; social organizations, including environmentalists, trade unions and institutions. This diverse structure gives Alianza Mar Blava an unusual level of representation and demonstrates undeniably the opposition generated by these oil projects. www.alianzamarblava.org