In 1971, motivated by their vision of a green and peaceful world, a small team of activists set sail from Vancouver, Canada, in an old fishing boat. These activists, the founders of Greenpeace, believed a few individuals could make a difference.
Their mission was to “bear witness” to US underground nuclear testing at Amchitka, a tiny island off the West Coast of Alaska, which is one of the world’s most earthquake-prone regions. Amchitka was the last refuge for 3000 endangered sea otters, and home to bald eagles, peregrine falcons and other wildlife. Even though their old boat, was intercepted before it got to Amchitka, the journey sparked a flurry of public interest.
The US still detonated the bomb, but the voice of reason had been heard. Nuclear testing on Amchitka ended that same year, and the island was later declared a bird sanctuary.
Today, Greenpeace is an international ecological organization that has 2.8 million supporters worldwide, and national as well as regional offices in 41 countries. Its headquarters are based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Greenpeace is a non-profit organization and nongovernmental. It unites people of different colours living in different continents and speaking different languages. The common mission of this organization is preserving life on the earth in its full variety.
Greenpeace does not accept donations from governments, corporations or political parties but relies on contributions from individual supporters and foundation grants. Greenpeace does not support any political party. Nevertheless, its members carry on a dialogue with all political forces and struggle for approving and passing laws for the welfare of our environment.
As a global organization, Greenpeace focuses on the most crucial worldwide threats to our planet’s biodiversity and environment. It campaigns to stop climate change, save the oceans, stop whaling, say no to genetic engineering, stop the nuclear threat, eliminate toxic chemicals.
The goal of Greenpeace is to expose environmental criminals, and to challenge government and corporations when they fail to live up to their mandate to safeguard our environment and our future.
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