Press Release 7 December 2001

WWF supports call for marine reserves in Sir Peter Blake’s memory

WWF New Zealand is deeply saddened to hear of the death of Sir Peter Blake, and we add our voice to calls for a network of marine reserves to commemorate his work, his passion, and his enormous contribution to Aotearoa New Zealand.

“WWF extends its hearfelt sympathy to his family, who have given him extraordinary support in exploring the world and his abiding interest in protecting it”, said WWF Chief Executive Jo Breese.

“We would like to draw attention to Sir Peter’s last entry in his Amazon log book, written on Tuesday, which sums up his passionate commitment to the natural world”:

“With nearly 50% of all of the peoples of the world now living in towns or cities, we wanted to begin the process of bringing back the appreciation of nature that may be missing from many daily lives:-- wake / car-bus-train / office-factory-school-supermarket / car-bus-train / home / television / bed.
We want to restart people caring for the environment as it must be cared for. …The hardest part of any big project is to begin. We have begun-- we are underway-- we have a passion. We want to make a difference. We hope that you and as many of your friends as possible will join us.”

“Sir Peter still had so much to give to the cause of protecting the natural world, it now behoves the rest of us to achieve something for him”, said Jo Breese.

ENDS
For further information:
Megan Huber, Communications Manager
Tel: (04) 499-2930
Megan.huber@wwf.org.nz

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