The animals are at the party!
Very good news for the environment and in particular for turtles and sea birds: the Government of the Principality of Monaco has just prohibited, by ministerial decree of 17 March 2020, the release into the atmosphere of balloons and flying lanterns for recreational, commemorative or leisure purposes.
This decision marks an important step in the Fête sans balloons initiative, launched almost a year ago by the Oceanographic Institute,
hand in hand with the Government of Monaco
(Directorate of the Environment), as part of a
programme in favour of marine turtles
.
We hope that this decision will inspire other states and communities, coastal or not, to adopt a respectful attitude towards biodiversity, without giving up the party!
As soon as sanitary conditions permit, we are getting ready to test the beautiful ideas for a Balloon Free Party that we have been collecting for several months.
By the way, if you have ideas for alternatives to balloon releases, don’t hesitate to continue sharing them on the Facebook Group specially created for the occasion or to be inspired by the proposals made:
join the group.
More about the "Balloon-free party" initiative
A released balloon rises into the sky, until it deflates or the decrease in atmospheric pressure causes it to burst into multiple fragments.
This debris then falls back to land and sea far from its release point. According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), balloons are in the top 10 of recreational waste found on the coast. They can travel thousands of miles and pollute the most remote and pristine areas.
