Greenpeace activists scaled a castle that sits on the edge of the Bonafacio Strait and unfurled a banner in French reading "Protect the Bonifacio Strait". Greenpeace is calling for the closure of the Bonifacio Strait to all dangerous cargo shipping, and for the creation of an international marine reserve to protect the biodiversity of the area.
The Bonifacio Strait, lying between Corsica and Sardinia, is an area of high marine biodiversity. Although the French and Italian governments agreed in 1993 to protect the area and ban their own vessels from carrying dangerous substances through Bonifacio, this has not resulted in any real protection for the area. Every year, around 3,000 cargo ships – including French and Italian vessels - cross the Bonifacio Strait, and approximately ten percent of these carry dangerous substances.