The current Canary Islands advertising campaign – which depicts polar bears in summertime habitats – is starting to attract a good deal of flak from green campaigners. Who are accusing the Canary Islands Tourist Board of trivialising the whole issue of global climate change in advance of the upcoming Copenhagen summit. Whilst ecologists are also up in arms at plans to downgrade the protected status of hundreds of plant and animal species on the islands.
The adverts – which carry the strap line “Say No To The Winter Blues” and which are currently running on various outdoor media such as the London Underground – have been described as tasteless by various campaigners such as Do The Green Thing. Who also feel that the timing of the campaign is provocative as it coincides with the first week of the upcoming Copenhagen summit.
Readers can decide for themselves by visiting the website specifically created to support the campaign at www.nowinterblues.com.
The controversy comes at a time when the Canary Islands government is also coming under fire from conservationists – according to reports in the Daily Telegraph. As they have downgraded the protected status of hundreds of species of plants and animals in order to make way for new property developments – putting their survival at risk. With ecologists branding their actions as criminal and calling for urgent intervention from Spain’s central government.
The Canary Islands are currently home to over 4000 unique species and are widely recognised as a haven for these indigenous plants and animals.
But the Canary Islands government is pressing ahead with a new bill that will remove around half of these species from the protected list. Freeing up large tracts of formerly protected land for potential development.
Some Canarian scientists have interpreted the bill as a deliberate attempt to get rid of ‘nuisance species’ that stand in the way of development plans. Classing it as deliberate attack on biodversity. With official protests already lodged with the central government in Madrid.
Amongst the species currently set for reclassification include the emblematic Houbara Bustard (chlamydotis undulata), the symbol for the island of Fuerteventura and native of the Chinijo Archipelago. Which will be downgraded to “vulnerable” from “endangered” – despite the fact that the ongoing loss of its desert habitat has resulted in a decline in numbers over recent years.
