Award-winning studio Aardman, makers of Wallace and Gromit, Chicken Run and Shaun the Sheep, have teamed up with Greenpeace to create a powerful short film showing the threats our oceans are facing, and the importance of protecting them. The film, Turtle Journey, tells the heartbreaking story of a turtle family attempting to get home, in an ocean that is under increasing threat from climate change, plastic pollution, oil drilling and overfishing.
Home is the most important thing we have. A safe space for us and our family to live. But we’re taking that away from turtles, whales, penguins and so many other incredible animals. Most of us instinctively love the oceans and care about the amazing marine life that lives there, but far fewer people know how much pressure they are under. If we don’t act now we risk causing irreversible harm to our oceans and losing species for good.
Our leaders have talked and deliberated enough. Real change will emanate from real action that will see 30% of our oceans fully protected through the creation of ocean sanctuaries. South Africa’s own fisherfolks in the Western Cape depend on healthy oceans and marine ecosystems for their livelihoods so protecting our oceans also means protecting each other.
Greenpeace Africa has found through engaging with these fishing communities that existing laws and regulations have been ineffective, allowing for the destruction and dire state our oceans are in. This is why a strong, binding and scalable treaty is critical if any effective change is to be effected and seen in our lifetime and beyond.
The time for urgent action for the protection of our oceans is now, and governments have the opportunity to be on the right side of history.
