Your travel plans could save a whale

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.

Take the travel pledge here.

Want more information? You can read here about:

Read Greenpeace's offer to the Icelandic Government

The truth about "scientific whaling"

A rebuttal to the Icelandic Ambassador's defence of scientific whaling.

Whale watching -- the future?

Whaling: A brief history

Gallup poll on Icelandic attitudes toward Greenpeace