United Nations Radio

Nigel Barker

PRES: The United Nations Environment Programme, UNEP, on World Environment Day, showcased the work of the photographer and filmmaker Nigel Barker in celebration of the planet's wildlife and to address some human practices that affect global diversity. Barker is now on tour in Europe, using the same images to portray the ongoing massacre of baby seals, just for their fur. Jocelyne Sambira reports.

Duration: 3'23''

JOCELYNE: Every year the seal hunt rakes in 12 million dollars for countries like Canada and Finland. Baby seals that are barely a month old, are slaughtered, and skinned for their pelts. A Sealed Fate, is a film produced by photographer Nigel Barker on this gruesome trade. As spokesperson for the Humane Society and animal lover, he has taken his documentary film and photo exhibit to many places, including the United Nations Headquarters in New York, to lobby for an end to this trade. Now, the same exhibit is being showcased around Europe, where he finally got a breakthrough on May 5th.

BARKER: The EU has passed a total ban on the import of seal products into Europe so as a part of that I have just come back from Europe where we opened the exhibition of photographs and the film, a Sealed Fate, in Brussels and in Amsterdam. It is also going on to Rome, Barcelona, Prague, various places in Germany, London, and actually a few more and we are very excited about that.

JOCELYNE: What was your role in that?

BARKER: By going to Europe and by lobbying in the EU and by writing various blogs and doing interviews around the world, going to Canada, we took the film to the Sundance film festival, the Toronto film festival, had exhibitions in Los Angeles, in New York, Washington DC, we took it to Congress and got unanimous resolutions passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate. And of course with the help of various different organizations as well as the Humane Society of the US and the HSI.

JOCELYNE: Humane Society International is trying to expand the EU ban by getting businesses and individuals to boycott Canadian sea food. Why Canada in particular and is it the only country that is hunting the seals?

BARKER: It is not the only country that is hunting the seals. It is by far pretty much the most gruesome hunt there is. Namibia also does a hunt which is similar. But the theory is if we go after Canada which for the moment slaughter annually over 300,000 baby seals, the demand will be over. A part of me going up to the ice and taking pictures and shooting this file, was to say to the Canadians look how beautiful your countryside is, look how beautiful the ice is, look how stunning these seals are, instead of killing them you should celebrate them and perhaps use them as an ecotourism opportunity similar to whale watching. You used to have a whale hunt in Canada now you have whale watching. The actual boycott of Canadian seafood has been going on for years now and there has been a massive dip in exports between Canada and the US. And the idea is if we can't stop them by graphic imagery and what have you, we have to hit them where it hurts, which is in the wallet.

JOCELYNE: Who are the largest buyers apart from Europe?

BARKER: This is how it sort of works. Scandinavian countries seem to buy it a lot but they tend to be the people who process the pelts and the main buyers seem to be China and Russia and places like that. But we had success with Russia last year too. Putin has banned the hunt of baby seals under two years old saying it was bloody business and he wanted no part of it.

JOCELYNE: There seems to be a contradiction with your job in the fashion industry and the seal hunt, how do you reconcile the two?

BARKER: That is exactly why I am doing it. It is because I am a fashion photographer, because my industry is the one that is involved with the fur trade, it is exactly why I am spearheading this campaign to end it. I do not shoot fur, I have a strict policy against it, I do all I can to encourage designers and people I work for, not to use it, to understand where the fur comes from. I am here to try and educate people on these issues, as and when I can and obviously I feel particularly passionate about this because the fashion industry is so responsible directly.

JOCELYNE: Nigel Barker, photographer and film producer.