Organisations & operators of this website

OceanCare
Vera Bürgi
Oberdorfstraße 16, Postfach 372
CH-8820 Wädenswil
Tel: 41 (0)44 780 66 88
E-Mail: vbuergi@oceancare.org
www.oceancare.org
Firmennummer: CH-020.6.000.674-0
Geschäftsführerin: Sigrid Lüber


WDC Deutschland
Franziska Walter
Implerstraße 55
D-81371 Munich
Tel: 49 (0)89 6100 2393
E-Mail: kontakt@whales.org
whales.org
Trade register: AG Munich HRB 126158
CEO: Sian Carys Hamilton, Christopher Butler-Stroud, Christopher Robert Vick

If you wish to contact WDC or OceanCare please contact Franziska Walter or Vera Bürgi at the address above.

Concept & Idea:
Euro RSCG Düsseldorf
Kaiserswerther Str. 135
40474 Düsseldorf

Implementation:
Parasol Island
Neusser Straße 125
40219 Düsseldorf

Sound-Design:
Audioversum GmbH
Birkenstraße 84
40233 Düsseldorf

Responsible for the content:
Vera Bürgi (OceanCare), Franziska Walter (WDC Deutschland)

Campaign Consulting:
Shifting Values e.U.
Nicolas Entrup
Scheidlstr. 45
1180 Vienna
Austria

Agentur Nest
Blücherstraße 22
10961 Berlin
Germany

Terms and Conditions

1. Website contents
The contents of this website are prepared by the organisations OceanCare and Whale and Dolphin Conservation (hereinafter referred to as „operators of this website“) with utmost care. Nonetheless the operators cannot guarantee for the timeliness, accuracy, completeness, and quality of the contents provided. Rights of liability against the operators referring to material or immaterial damage due to the use/non-use of the provided content respectively the use of deficient or incomplete information are excluded unless they are attributable to the operators’ wilful or negligent fault. The operators explicitly reserve their right to change, amend or delete parts of the website or the website as a whole, or to discontinue publication temporarily or permanently without separate announcement. There will be given no guarantee for the availability or operation of this website and its contents.

2. Links
This website contains links to websites of third parties (“external links”). These websites are subject to the liability of their respective operators. When first establishing external links, the operators of this website checked the external contents for possible infringements of law. At this point in time no such infringements were evident. The operators have no influence on the current and future shape and contents of linked external sites. Introducing external links does not mean that the operators adopt the linked contents. Therefore only the respective owners of the external sites are liable for the linked contents. Constant survey of external links is not reasonable for the operators, as long as no specific hint to infringements of law is given. Whenever such infringements become known, the external links in question are immediately removed.

3. Copyright
All contents and works (texts, images, graphics, sounds) established on this website by the operators are subject to copyright. Any use not authorized by copyright laws requires prior written approval by the respective holder of rights.

4. Data security
Use of cookies
The operators of this website are using so-called “cookies” in order to better adjust the service according to users’ preferences and to collect statistical data on the use of the website. Cookies are small text files that a website places locally into the internet browser’s file system on the user’s computer in order to allow authenticating identity upon returning to the website. The cookies on this website do not collect any personal data of the user. You can delete cookies at any time directly from your hard disc or by selecting the corresponding menu item of your internet browser. Details are given in your internet browser’s help menu.

Using the website without cookies
Of course you can use the website without accepting cookies. You can at any time choose to refuse the use of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings of your internet browser.

The operators are explicitly pointing out that data transfer through the internet (e.g. communication via e-mail) can bear security holes and cannot entirely be protected from access by third parties.

Google Analytics
This website uses Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. (“Google”). Google Analytics uses cookies, which are text files placed on the user’s computer to help analyze how users use the site. The information generated by the cookie about the use of the website (including your IP address) will be transmitted to and stored by Google on servers in the United States. Google will use this information for the purpose of evaluating the use of the website by the user, compiling reports on website activity for the website operators and providing other services related to website and internet usage. Google may also transfer this information to third parties where required to do so by law, or where such third parties process the information on Google’s behalf. Google will not associate the user’s IP address with any other data held by Google.

5. Personal data
If there is an option of providing personal data (email-address, name, address), within this website, disclosure of this kind of data is voluntary on the part of the user.

6. Using and processing personal data
Users are not required to provide personal data as a condition of using this website. Personal data will only be collected if submitted on a voluntary basis through completion of the petition form or e-mails. This data will be saved and used for the purpose of passing on the petition data to the decision makers mentioned in the petition, supplying users with the requested information or sending further information on this campaign (if users have subscribed to the newsletter by ticking the appropriate box). This personal data will not be passed on for use by third parties. If users subscribe to the newsletter this privacy policy (WDC) will apply.

7. Right of Access, Correction and Cancellation
Users of the website have the right to review and amend any personal data stored in the operators’ system if users believe it may be out of date or incorrect. Users also have the right at any time to withdraw their consent to the use of their personal data in the future by an e-mail to the website operators (Franziska Walter, kontakt@whales.org or Vera Bürgi, vbuergi@oceancare.org).

Dear Mrs. Aigner, dear Mr. Altmaier,

Marine protected areas play a vital role for the protection of whales, dolphins and the ecosystems that support them as well as other marine life. However, not even 2 percent of the world’s oceans are protected and only a fraction of these protected areas are considered effective!

We advocate the designation of marine protected areas in in the waters of Germany, Europe and worldwide and the setting up of management bodies to monitor, evaluate and enforce effective management strategies, thus providing safe homes for whales and dolphins and other marine life.

This includes:

• Prohibiting fisheries responsible for marine mammal bycatch or contributing to the destruction of habitats in marine protected areas, such as bottom trawls and gillnetting. Instead, selective fishing methods should be promoted.
• Promoting marine protected areas as places where whales and dolphins live, hunt, breed and rest, safe from the increasing levels of man-made noise in the ocean. Military exercises and seismic surveys for oil and gas must not be allowed in and around marine protected areas. Vessel traffic as well as noisy construction of offshore wind parks also must be carefully managed and prohibited in and around sensitive, highly protected areas.
• Promoting the development of a worldwide network of marine protected areas in national and international waters to safeguard marine wildlife and ecosystems.

We urge the German government to implement strict regulations on the exploitation of natural resources in and around marine protected areas. This will identify Germany as a leader in the stewardship of its marine sector within Europe. Furthermore, the government must continue to take a positive stand in favour of marine protection in international waters of the high seas. These safe havens of biodiversity and species’ health can then contribute to maintaining our ocean’s vital functions necessary for a healthy planet.

Best regards,

on behalf of www.be-their-voice.com
OceanCare and WDCS


BM Ernährung, Landwirtschaft und Verbraucherschutz
Minister Ilse Aigner
Rochusstraße 1, 53123 Bonn
Germany
poststelle@bmelv.bund.de

Bundesumweltministerium
Minister Peter Altmaier
Stresemannstraße 128 – 130, 10117 Berlin
Germany
service@bmu.bund.de