Campaign spotligths plight of world's oceans

Two-thirds of Dutch don’t know how they can help

AMSTERDAM, 19 April 2010 – More than half of people in the Netherlands know the world's oceans are in trouble. But two-thirds of them have no idea what they can do about the oceans’ deplorable state. The figures come from a study conducted by TNS Global Market Research for the Dutch Postcode Lottery. A new large-scale Postcode Lottery project aims to change this situation.

photocredits: Mattias Klum

The study is part of Postcode Lottery Project Oceans, an international campaign designed to help conserve the oceans and life within them. With €7 million at its disposal, the project will increase people’s awareness about the state of the oceans and what they can do about it.

International approach
Three NGO’s have been given support – WWF, Greenpeace and the Marine Stewardship Council – to enable them to do extra marine conservation work. Each of these NGO’s works to protect ocean life through the establishment of marine reserves, make the fishing industry more sustainable, and expand the market for sustainably caught fish. Postcode Lottery Project Oceans is supported by the three Postcode Lotteries: the Svenska PostkodLotteriet in Sweden, the People’s Postcode Lottery in the United Kingdom, and the Dutch Postcode Lottery in the Netherlands.

Overfishing and harmful fishing methods pose grave threats to the oceans. Marieke van Schaik, managing director of the Dutch Postcode Lottery, says, “This issue deserves all the support it can get. The state of the oceans is one of the biggest environmental concerns at present, and it has consequences for the food supply of millions of people, now and in the future. We want to do something about that.”

A variety of activities
More information is available at www.projectoceans.com, which explains the activities of the Postcode Lotteries and the participating organisations in more detail. There is also a short film with a competition attached.