21 May 2004

French Polynesia's Greens want draw attention to environment's plight

4:14 pm on 21 May 2004

Environmentalists in French Polynesia are hoping to use next month's European elections to draw attention to parts of the territory which may disappear.

Rising sea levels linked to global warming may put many of the Tuamotu islands under water.

Gladys Lintz, a candidate on the lists for the green party, for the European parliamentary elections, says numerous islands such as Tuvalu, Nauru and the Tuamotus, will vanish within fifty years.

She says polluting countries have an obligation to take on the people whose homelands have disappeared.

Tahitipresse reports that she proposes an ecological refuge to preserve the marine biodiversity of French Polynesia.