San José, May 2010.

Between May 18th and 20th 2010, a meeting of the Latin American countries member of the Buenos Aires Group (GBA) was held in San José, Costa Rica. Buenos Aires Group is made of countries of the region with common interests in the International Whaling Commission (IWC) . This work also included joint sessions with 25 Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) from 14 Latin American countries, as well as international ones, which were also present in Costa Rica.

The NGOs attending the meeting, among them Fundacion Cethus, agreed a joint position regarding the negotiation process which is currently underway within IWC, and the proposal submitted by the Chairman of the International Whaling Commission, the Chilean Christian Maquieira.

The current situation that this process is going through, and the little clarity expressed in the document, has led the trust put by conservationist NGOs to be undermined by the apparent lack of transparency and neutrality of those who have the responsibility of represent us in this process.

In this context, the NGOs gathered there made a statement which was handed out to the Commissioners of the IWC present, which also specified the joint position agreed by the NGOs.

Although in the context of these negotiations, the work done during past years by the GBA, always committed with the conservation of whales, is highlighted, the declaration of NGOs emphasized the great concern over the ongoing process as well as to the proposal that was introduced on April 22nd by the Chair and Vice-chair of the Commission, which in case of being accepted just as currently is drafted, it would remove the moratorium on commercial whaling, allow hunting in sanctuaries and the establishment of quotas not necessarily based on scientific criteria. Finally, a call to GBA to "coordinate activities to provide a proposal that promotes a real conservation of cetaceans" was included.

At the end of this meeting, the GBA issued its own press release on which it makes reference to the proposal considering it as "far below the expectations of the GBA”, and its acceptance would involve major concessions by conservationist countries and the postponement of fundamental discussions for the countries of the region (including the treatment of key issues such as scientific whaling, hunting in sanctuaries, consideration of current threats to cetaceans, etc.). Finally but not less important, the GBA reaffirmed its commitment to whale conservation, maintenance of the moratorium, promotion of non-lethal use of cetaceans, integrity of sanctuaries, and creation of the South Atlantic Sanctuary, among other issues, thus reaffirming at the same time, its commitment to the negotiation process and its willingness to continue working for the conservation of whales.

Asked about this regard, Marta Hevia who attended this meeting on behalf of Fundación Cethus said: "Despite of the road ahead seems controversial and difficult; once again Latin America (represented by all sectors) keeps its position and demonstrates its commitment to the conservation of cetaceans".

Cethus, will continue working to defend this position in Agadir, Morocco, where the 62nd Annual Meeting of the IWC is going to be held next June.

To see the Statement of the NGOs gathered in San José, Costa Rica click here
To see Buenos Aires Group’s Press Release click here