Your travel plans could save a whale

Background - October 18, 2006

"I would seriously consider taking a vacation in Iceland rather than somewhere else if the Government of Iceland stopped whaling. I would be willing to receive an email about the options available for Icelandic tourism, an email that would be sent to me if the Government of Iceland ends its whaling program."Can you agree the statement above? If so...

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Minke whale

Sign here to save whales.

In the summer of 2003, Iceland announced a scientific whaling programme as a precursor to a return to commercial whaling, after a 12-year hiatus.

This decision was taken despite the opposition of the Icelandic tourist industry, which for years now has been promoting Iceland as an excellent nature tourism destination, and has a thriving whale-watch industry.

Greenpeace sailed to Iceland in August to open a dialogue with the people of Iceland and to make an offer to the Icelandic government: stop the whaling, and Greenpeace will promote Iceland as a Nature tourism destination.

We need to convince the Icelandic government that whaling can seriously damage their good name as a tourist destination, and that whales are worth more alive to Iceland than they can hope to make from a renewed hunt.

And that's where you come in.

As of this writing, more than 22,000 people have taken the pledge. Every pledge represents nearly $US 1500 in income to Iceland. We're seeking tens of thousands more pledgers by June of 2004, for a total potential value of more than 50 million dollars to the Icelandic economy: against a potential value for commercial whaling of only US$3-4 million.