Guéthary (France) (AFP)
The small port of Guethary, south of Biarritz, was not big enough on Thursday to contain more than 350 surfers who came to raise awareness about the protection of the oceans, on the eve of the G7.
Called "Rame for your planet", this citizen meeting was intended to place the ocean at the center of the debates before the opening of the Summit of Heads of State Saturday.
"Biarritz, city of the G7, but it is above all an international city of surf, an ocean city and we as surfers, we must carry the voice of the ocean", commented Gibus de Soultrait, surfer for fifty years and one of the co-founders of Surfrider Foundation. This NGO and the local ecological association Bizi! are behind this initiative.
In this village, the surfers gathered went into the water in the evening and formed a symbolic chain off. On the small beach were signs planted in the sand with slogans such as "The planet wakes up, we wake up with it", and even messages written on surfboards, like "ocean l 'spirit, challenge society'.
"We, here in the Basque Country, live from the ocean and if the ocean dies, it is the man who dies, but fortunately, as soon as the aggression ceases, nature takes back its rights. why we row, to say that we are aware of these problems, "said before surfers Francois Verdet, member of Surfrider and co-organizer of the meeting.
Since October, the "Rame for your planet" meetings have succeeded on the Basque coast with the aim of rowing every first Saturday of the month until the G7.
"There were oars in the storm, in the cold, we focused on the G7 but finally what is important is that we reconsider our own attitude" concluded under the applause Gibus de Soultrait.
© 2019 AFP