Good news! The Congolese government says it won't allow British oil companies to explore Africa's oldest national park, and home to almost a quarter of the Earth’s last remaining mountain gorillas.
The more then 26,000 signatures in our petition were crucial for this win. Thank you to all of you who participated!
However, we can't relax just yet because the decision to protect Virungu National Park isn't final. We need to keep the pressure on to make it final!
European tar sands blowing in the wind
You also helped us influence decisions in another part of the world. An equally big thank you to everyone who signed our petition calling on the European Union (EU) to keep tar sands out of Europe.
We handed over the petition to EU political representatives last month in Brussels, Belgium and got some promising feedback. As part of this directive, Europe has the power to say tar sands are unacceptable to its, and the world's, citizens. During the next few months The EU will vote on a law, known as the Fuel Quality Directive.
Linda McAvan MEP, who sits on the Parliament's Environment Committee, said the petition reinforced their resolve to clean up Europe's transport fuels.
We'll keep up you posted and hope for a successful outcome.
One of our climate witness leaders Mr Katsuo Sasaki passed away on 11 March 2011 during the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. Mr Katsuo had a great passion for the environment and showed fantastic leadership in organic rice farming. We are all deeply saddened by this loss and send out our sincerest sympathy to Mr Sasaki's family at this most difficult time.
On a more heartening note - all of our staff in the Tokyo office are doing well, and were unharmed during the earthquake and tsunami. Understandably, it's been a tough time for everyone, but our team on the ground is working hard to do their part in helping the people of Japan through this humanitarian and environmental tragedy.
Did you know that your search engine can help the environment? Just swap your old search engine for Ecosia, and every time you click on a sponsored link you help raise money for the Amazon
Thank you,
Trina Tune
