Let’s save the Baltic Sea before we miss it. WWF Earth Hour 2021

23 March 2021

The WWF Earth Hour will start For the fourteenth time. This time the lights will go out for the Baltic. Poles are not aware of the very poor environmental condition of our sea, and the Baltic and its inhabitants are dying. Will the Baltic Sea as we know it soon be able to be seen only in a museum?

The pressure exerted by man on the Baltic Sea may lead to irreversible changes in the near future. This was to be prevented by actions resulting from, among others, the European Union law, which obliged us to achieve good environmental status of the Baltic Sea by 2020. This goal has not been achieved, and the situation of the Baltic Sea is deteriorating.

That is why protecting the Baltic Sea became the theme of the Polish edition of the WWF Earth Hour global action, the largest ecological initiative in the world. Every year about 180 countries on 7 continents take part in it. For years the campaign has been inspiring people to take action with the message that it is worth fighting for our home – the Earth.

That is why protecting the Baltic Sea became the theme of the Polish edition of the WWF Earth Hour global action, the largest ecological initiative in the world. Every year about 180 countries on 7 continents take part in it. For years the campaign has been inspiring people to take action with the message that it is worth fighting for our home – the Earth.

The aim of this year’s Earth Hour WWF is to protect the environment of the Baltic Sea and to raise awareness about its threats. On the website godzinadlaziemi.pl you can sign a petition addressed to the Prime Minister in this matter.

The Baltic Sea is dying and its inhabitants are disappearing!

In front of our eyes, the marine inhabitants’ struggle for survival is taking place. Intensive agriculture, years of overfishing, and water pollution have led to significant environmental damage. The Baltic Sea, due to its characteristics as a closed body of water located in the depths of a continent, is a very sensitive sea, and water exchange in it is slow. Currently, some of the biggest problems facing the Baltic Sea are the lack of sustainable fisheries, dead zones – bottom areas completely devoid of oxygen and lost fishing gear that drifts into the sea and continues to catch fish, non-functional marine protected areas. Illegal fishing still takes place in the Baltic Sea, fishing practices with negative impact on the natural environment of the Baltic Sea, including protected and endangered species (e.g. birds and marine mammals).

We have prepared a petition to the Prime Minister of Poland, which presents the problems of the Baltic Sea, proposes recommendations and ready-made solutions with appeal for the immediate implementation of regulations that will allow for better protection of our sea. For the Baltic, this is last chance for rescue.

WWF Poland marine ecosystem protection expert Anna Sosnowska said: “The condition of the Baltic Sea is very poor. We appeal to politicians to fulfill their obligations and ensure the salvation of the Baltic Sea ecosystem. Not only for the marine fauna and flora, but also for the local communities, including fishermen, who are kept by the sea and for all those who love to visit the Baltic and create new memories on its shores.”

For every grain of sand, in every castle. Let us act in the name of what we love

What if the Baltic we remember will be able to seen only in a museum? – we hear Hubert Urbański’s voice in the spot announcing the action, which takes us to the virtual space of an imaginary museum set in the future, where exhibits related to the Baltic Sea are displayed. In the background we can hear the chorus of Irena Santor’s unforgettable hit “Już nie ma dzikich plaż”. On the sculptures created in 3D technology such as: a seashell, porpoise, cod, fishing boat, or a sand castle we see fragments of film footage full of memories of decades ago, filmed at the Polish seaside.

We reminisce together about what we best associate with the Baltic Sea: sunsets, jumping on the waves, playing in the sand and collecting shells, but also the scenic views of fishing boats at sea. The film’s story combines sentimental images from the past with a sad scenario of the future. The Virtual Museum of the Baltic is a warning – if actions to protect our sea are not taken urgently, the Baltic as we remember will cease to exist. It will remain only in our memories and on archival films and photographs. That’s why we need to act while we still have time.

With this emotional message, WWF Poland wants to mobilize Polish women and men to sign a petition on the website godzinadlaziemi.pl, addressed to Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki to save the Baltic ecosystem.

Hubert Urbanski about his motivations for supporting the campaign:

“We are degrading the natural environment in which we live in an unrestrained and unreflective manner. It is time to stop pretending that the effects of such behaviour will pass us by. I wholeheartedly support the campaign to save the Baltic Sea.

It’s not just the environment we have to save, it’s also the sum of our experiences that define us and to which we keep coming back”.

Time is running out, join the WWF Earth Hour campaign and sign the petition

For the final of the WWF Earth Hour campaign, on 27 March at 20:30 in a symbolic gesture of solidarity with nature and the planet, lights will be turned off all over the world. We turn off the lights for one hour both in homes and public places – monuments, government buildings, municipal and commercial facilities.

Throughout March there is also an action on Instagram, in which everyone can share a sentimental photo from the Baltic Sea, tagging it #godzinadlabaltyku and @wwfpolska, encouraging others to sign the petition.

Sign the petition and find out more: godzinadlaziemi.pl

See the campaign spot: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZoZTzOdGpQ

Follow WWF Polska on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

WWF Earth Hour 2021 – March 27, 2021: Turn off lights for 60 minutes at 8:30 pm

Acknowledgements: Possibility of using the song “Już Nie Ma Dzikich Plaż” and the license for its use courtesy of the archives of the Polish Radio, Irena Santor, Ryszard Szeremeta and Krzysztof Logan Tomaszewski. The archival recordings from the Baltic Sea used in the spot come from the Polish Home Movie Archive, a project realized by the Artistic Film Archive of the Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw and the Society of Friends of the Museum.