EMPOWER Membership opened

On Wednesday 18 November membership was officially opened for the EMPOWER Network. After almost 6 months of preparation the Network is now ready to expand beyond the 9 Founding Members. It is expected that in the end over 70 members from across Europe will have joined the network, which aims to improve the professionalism and capacity of NGOs in their responses to marine wildlife emergencies and cooperation with their national authorities. Membership of EMPOWER is free of charge and only requires the signing of a Code of Conduct and the submission of information on the applicant. The Code of Conduct describes the attitude EMPOWER members are expected to have when they are invited to participate in the response to a marine wildlife emergency. The Code reflects what is generally perceived as “common sense” in an emergency response. By signing the Code however, an organisation demonstrates that it is aware of the responsibilities a responder has during an incident with regards to cooperating with others, sharing information and applying agreed professional and technical standards of good practice. To the surprise of Sea Alarm the first application from a respected organisation outside the Steering Group was received within 24 hours!