English

Firends of the earth Netherlands - Milieu Defensie

Friends of the Earth Netherlands (Milieudefensie) is a national organization with a hundred local groups. Founded in 1971, it has about 70,000 members and contributors. A separate youth organization, JMA, has several thousand partners.
The Netherlands is a densely populated and built up country, which largely defines the scope of our campaigns, for example the campaign for the legal protection of green and less populated countryside, because quietness, space and fresh air have become scarce. We are campaigning for rules against the enormous use of cars, such as car-free city centres and better public transport. For years we have fought against the growth of Schiphol, one of Europe's largest airports, close to our capital Amsterdam, and have won a partial victory in the introduction of legal measure to reduce noise and pollution problems from air traffic.
Dutch intensive agriculture is notorious for its pollution and animal unfriendly production methods. A switch to organic agriculture is greatly needed. Therefore we are encouraging supermarkets chains to sell more biological products. Recycling, energy saving and sustainable energy are ongoing themes. In a "low" country like the Netherlands campaigns for climate change are especially important. So, there is enough work in our country.
But the remit of our organization does not stop at our borders. FoE Netherlands has a long history in campaigning for the conservation of tropical and virgin forests. We have been successful in actions against Dutch companies that do not protect the environment in other countries - for example when Shell caused serious oil pollution in Nigeria some years ago, and one of our campaigns is concerned with the adverse effects of the liberalization of the world market and the role of the WTO

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