MEDIA ADVISORY
Friends of the Earth International
Wednesday 18 October 2006
SHELL'S NEIGHBOURS EXPOSE HYPOCRISY OF
WILDLIFE PRIZE
LONDON, UK, 18 October 2006 -- Communities
living next door to the oil giant Shell are
in London this week to expose the oil giant's
hypocrisy in sponsoring the Wildlife
Photographer of the Year competition - to be
announced on Wednesday 18 October [1].
Shell is the new sponsor of this year's
prestigious wildlife prize, which is jointly
organised by the Natural History Museum and
BBC Wildlife Magazine, contributing 750,000
GBP or 1,117,000 Euros [2].
But Shell's neighbours have branded the
oil giant a "wildlife destroyer" and say that
Shell is trying to hide the damage it does to
wildlife and the environment behind the
prestigious wildlife prize [3].
They are calling on the Natural History
Museum to end the relationship with Shell,
which they believe jeopardises the museum's
reputation and credibility. The museum is
entering into the sponsorship despite
carrying out an ethical review of Shell which
identified problems with the company [4].
Paul De Clerck, Friends of the Earth
International Corporates Campaigner said:
"Shell's sponsorship of the Wildlife
Photographer of the Year award completely
undermines its value. Shell's is causing
massive damage to wildlife and the
environment, and no amount of sponsoring of
green prizes will change that."
Friends of the Earth's Corporates
Campaigner Hannah Griffiths
added: "The Natural History
Museum should not accept sponsorship from
such a destructive company."
The visitors, who will be speaking at
public meetings in London, Birmingham and
Manchester as well as visiting the Houses of
Parliament [5], are in the UK to draw
attention to the real impacts Shell has on
wildlife, the environment and people around
the world.
One of the speakers will be Terry Clancy
from the Shell to Sea campaign in County
Mayo, Ireland, where Shell plans to build an
on-shore pipeline and gas terminal. The
development threatens the unique habitat
offered by Broadhaven Bay - an
internationally important nature reserve -
and will destroy peatlands and damage coastal
grasslands [6].
The speakers will also highlight the
damaging impacts on wildlife on the Russian
island of Sakhalin, where Shell's new
platform and pipeline threaten the survival
of the already critically endangered Western
Pacific Grey Whale.
Friends of the Earth has also seen details
of a report which states that Shell has
destroyed several hundred Sakhalin or Glehn
spruce - listed on the IUCN threatened
species list. Part of a protected area
over a kilometre long has been clear cut by
Shell to make way for the pipeline [7].
Friends of the Earth, which is hosting the
tour, has launched an online image gallery
showing the damage caused by Shell [8].
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Friends of the Earth International
Corporates Campaigner Paul De Clerck. Tel:
+32-2-542 61 07 (Belgian number)
Friends of the Earth's Corporates Campaigner
Hannah Griffiths. Tel: +44-7855 841994
Friends of the Earth Press Office in London,
UK. Tel: +44-20-7566 1649
NOTES TO EDITORS:
[1] See
www.nhm.ac.uk/visit-us/whats-on/temporary-exhibitions/wpy/exhib-index.html
[2] Shell is contributing £750,000 over two
years for the two year deal it has signed
with the Natural History Museum
[3] A briefing on Shell's impacts on
wildlife is available from Friends of the
Earth
www.foe.co.uk/resource/briefings/shell_wildlife_destroyer.pdf
[4] A copy of the ethical review is
available for Friends of the Earth
[5] The Shell Neighbours will be speaking in
London on Monday 16 October at 7pm at the
London Action Resource Centre, 62 Fieldgate
Street, London E1 1ES; on Tuesday 17 October
at 6:30pm at Imperial College, Lecture
Theatre 208, Skempton Building, Imperial
College Road, London SW7; in Birmingham on
Thursday 19 October; 7:30pm at the Warehouse
Café, Birmingham Friends of the Earth, 54-57
Allison Street, Digbeth, Birmingham, B5 5TH;
and in Manchester on Friday 20 October 7pm -
Friends Meeting House.
[6] See
http://www.corribsos.com/
[7] A translated copy is available from
Friends of the Earth
[8] See
http://www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/corporates/news/shell_wildlife_gallery.html
and
http://www.shelloiledwildlife.org.uk
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