Every month since January 2022, we have been supporting a cause in the world by donating one percent of our turnover to an association whose purpose is of general interest. Each month, we ask our employees and partners to take it in turns to choose who to donate to and this month the NGO Sea Shepherd has been chosen.
Presentation of the Sea Shepherd association
Sea Shepherd is a non-profit organisation for the protection of the oceans. It was founded in 1977 by Captain Paul Watson, and its specificity is to intervene peacefully but actively on site to denounce and prevent illegal attacks on marine life and ecosystems.
Recent concrete campaigns in the field include the Dolphin ByCatch operation to reduce dolphin mortality due to intensive fishing activities, and a presence in Brittany during the summer season, as well as in the Channel and North Sea to document the fishing activities of factory ships.
Why marine life protection is important
We spend most of our time on land, so much so that we forget that the oceans cover three quarters of our blue planet, which means that they play a crucial role for the entire biosphere, even in the most remote continental areas.
The oceans are a real carbon sink for the planet and contribute to the regulation of atmospheric CO2. This role, the importance of which we can appreciate after a scorching spring, obviously depends on ecosystem balances. There is therefore a clear link between marine life and the climate. What is more, and this becomes more obvious if we look at ecosystems, all the living components of our planet are linked to each other by numerous and complex interrelationships, some of which we do not yet know exist.
Since we are talking about unsuspected links, the plethora of marine biodiversity is essential for the proper functioning of the planet, and in particular for the social well-being of our human societies, according to a report published on the United Nations website by C. Pasca Palmer, Executive Secretary of the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity.
Waste is also a crucial issue for the health of the oceans. Still too many of our everyday objects end up on the ground, then washed into streams by rain, then into rivers, and finally into the sea. This includes, of course, anti-COVID masks, plastic bags mistaken for food by turtles, and many others. It is particularly ironic that areas of the ocean where there is no human activity are known to us by the presence of our waste and microplastics.
What to do at the individual level
To sum things up simply, it seems reasonable to advocate respect for life in all its forms on the planet, as well as the fairest possible means of spatial planning that allows all living species on our planet to live (together) as well as possible.
More down to earth, it is possible to join the Sea Shepherd NGO, make a donation or consult their online petitions.