Lamya Essemlali (born 1979) is a French
environmental
A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale f ...
activist, of
Moroccan origin. She's the co-founder and president of Sea Shepherd France, the French branch of the anti-poaching organisation
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. She is also co-director of Sea Shepherd Global and co-president of the non-governmental organisation Rewild.
Biography
Early and personal life
Lamya's family is originally from
Morocco, but she was born and grew up in
Gennevilliers (
France), near
Paris.
Environmental activism
Essemlali has a master's degree in
environmental sciences
Environmental science is an interdisciplinary academic field that integrates physics, biology, and geography (including ecology, chemistry, plant science, zoology, mineralogy, oceanography, limnology, soil science, geology and physical geo ...
and an associate degree in business communications. Prior to her engagement with the
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, she was involved with
Greenpeace
Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, immigrant environmental activists from the United States. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth t ...
and the
World Wildlife Fund.
Essemlali met
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society founder
Paul Watson at a conference in
Paris in 2005. Her first missions with Sea Shepherd were to
Antarctica and the
Galápagos Islands.
In 2006 she co-founded Sea Shepherd France. She became the president of the organisation in 2008.
Essemlali has led several campaigns for Sea Shepherd Global in the
Mediterranean Sea, the
Faroe Islands ("GrindStop" campaign) and the
Indian Ocean (
Réunion
Réunion (; french: La Réunion, ; previously ''Île Bourbon''; rcf, label= Reunionese Creole, La Rényon) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas department and region of France. It is located approximately east of the island ...
Island) to defend
bluefin tuna,
dolphins,
pilot whales,
sea cucumber
Sea cucumbers are echinoderms from the class Holothuroidea (). They are marine animals with a leathery skin and an elongated body containing a single, branched gonad. Sea cucumbers are found on the sea floor worldwide. The number of holothuria ...
s, and
sharks. She has campaigned against dolphin
bycatch
Bycatch (or by-catch), in the fishing industry, is a fish or other marine species that is caught unintentionally while fishing for specific species or sizes of wildlife. Bycatch is either the wrong species, the wrong sex, or is undersized or juve ...
in the
Bay of Biscay
The Bay of Biscay (), known in Spain as the Gulf of Biscay ( es, Golfo de Vizcaya, eu, Bizkaiko Golkoa), and in France and some border regions as the Gulf of Gascony (french: Golfe de Gascogne, oc, Golf de Gasconha, br, Pleg-mor Gwaskogn), ...
and the poaching of
Hawksbill sea turtle
The hawksbill sea turtle (''Eretmochelys imbricata'') is a critically endangered sea turtle belonging to the family Cheloniidae. It is the only extant species in the genus ''Eretmochelys''. The species has a global distribution, that is largel ...
s in
Mayotte.
She published the book ''Captain Paul Watson, interview with a pirate'' in 2012.
Essemlali is the co-president of the non-governmental organisation Rewild and co-director of Sea Shepherd Global.
Books
* ''Capitaine Paul Watson, entretien avec un pirate'', by Lamya Essemlali, Paul Watson (2012)
References
External links
Sea Shepherd France*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Essemlali, Lamya
1979 births
Living people
Environmental scientists
French environmentalists
French women environmentalists
Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
People from Gennevilliers
French people of Moroccan descent