International wildlife conservationists were pleased yesterday to hear that pressuring Nicaragua to oppose commercial whaling paid off. That country's Foreign Ministry announced yesterday that it will join others in voting against Japan's plans to resume the hunting of whales.
Nicaragua “assumes the commitment to hold up the moratorium on the hunting of these marine mammals,” reads a statement posted on its Foreign Ministry's Web site.
Environmental nonprofits allied under the Costa Rican Coalition for Whales are “very pleased” with Nicaragua's decision, said Luis Diego Marín, president of the Association for the Preservation of Wild Flora and Fauna (APREFLOFAS), one of 14 groups belonging to the coalition.
The same activists who earlier this year called for Costa Rica to take action against commercial whaling yesterday gathered outside the Nicaraguan Consulate in San José. Nicaragua is another one of the commission's smaller countries that Japan was wooing to vote in favor of its hunting plans, Marín said.
Carrying black paper signs shaped like whale fins with the letters RIP, protestors chanted “ Nicaragua, vote no to whale hunting!” while a few representatives met with Nicaraguan Ambassador Harold Rivas.
Rivas let them know of his country's decision to vote against whaling, Marín said.
Costa Rica recently squared away debts with the International Whaling Commission to be able to vote against Japan's plans to resume commercial whaling during a critical election the commission plans to hold in May in the U.S. state of Alaska. Private organizations paid the necessary funds to ensure Costa Rica's participation (TT, Feb. 16).
The group now plans to shift its focus to Colombia, which has not yet joined other Latin American countries in announcing plans to oppose whaling. These migratory mammals provide a source of income in communities were tourists go to see them, conservationists say. |
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