Lamya Essemlali

Lamya Essemlali
Essemlali in 2012
Born	1979 (age 45–46) Gennevilliers, France
Nationality	French
Occupation	Chairperson of Sea Shepherd France
Employer	Sea Shepherd Conservation Society
Website	Sea Shepherd France

Lamya Essemlali (born 1979) is a French environmental activist, of Moroccan origin.[1] She's the co-founder and president of Sea Shepherd France,[2] 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.[3][4]

Environmental activism

Essemlali has a master's degree in environmental sciences and an associate degree in business communications. Prior to her engagement with the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, she was involved with Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Fund.[5]

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[5] and the Galápagos Islands.[4] In 2006 she co-founded Sea Shepherd France. She became the president of the organisation in 2008.[6]

Essemlali has led several campaigns for Sea Shepherd Global in the Mediterranean Sea, the Faroe Islands ("GrindStop" campaign) and the Indian Ocean (Réunion Island) to defend bluefin tuna,[7] dolphins, pilot whales,[8] sea cucumbers, and sharks.[9] She has campaigned against dolphin bycatch in the Bay of Biscay[4] and the poaching of Hawksbill sea turtles in Mayotte.[5]

She published the book Captain Paul Watson, interview with a pirate in 2012.[10][11]

Essemlali is the co-president of the non-governmental organisation Rewild[12] and co-director of Sea Shepherd Global.[13]

Books

• (in French) Capitaine Paul Watson, entretien avec un pirate, by Lamya Essemlali, Paul Watson (2012) ISBN 978-2-7234-8691-0

References

1. "Lamya Essemlali, Sea Shepherd". onegreenplanet.org. Retrieved 9 February 2015.
2. "SSCS France". Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. Archived from the original on 6 February 2015. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
3. (in French) "Lamya Essemlali, la justicière de la mer". jeuneafrique.com. 30 September 2013. Retrieved 9 February 2015.
4. Freeman, Liam (7 June 2021). "'There aren't enough fish in the ocean to feed seven billion people': meet the women working on the frontline of ocean conservation". Vogue India.
5. "'Mayotte est un trésor de biodiversité'- Lamya Essemlali (Sea Shepherd France)" (in French). Era Environment. 12 October 2018.
6. Tremblais, Sonia (19 August 2021). "Pour Sea Shepherd, lutter contre l'éolien en baie de Saint-Brieuc, « c'est maintenant ou jamais »". Ouest France.
7. (in French) ""Rage bleue" pour protéger les thons rouges". rfi.fr. 6 June 2010. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
8. (in French) "Sea Shepherd s'en va en guerre contre les chasseurs de dauphins des îles Féroé". lemonde.fr. 13 June 2013. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
9. Chauvet, Audrey (20 October 2013). "Lamya Essemlali: «La haute-mer est une zone d'impunité idéale pour les crimes»". 20 minutes (in French).
10. Essemlali, Lamya; Watson, Paul (2013). Captain Paul Watson: Interview with a Pirate. ISBN 9781770851733. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
11. "Captain Paul Watson: Interview With a Pirate tells it like it is". straight.com. 18 April 2013. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
12. Le Strat, Céline (22 December 2019). "Lamya Essemlali : « L'urgence c'est d'améliorer les conditions de vie des animaux »". Le Telegramme (in French).
13. De La Chesnais, Éric (18 January 2022). "Lamya Essemlali: «L'image des éoliennes est de plus en plus écornée»". Le Figaro (in French).

External links

• Sea Shepherd France
• "Meet Lamya Essemlali: Ocean Warrior and President of Sea Shepherd France". Beauty Disrupted. 7 December 2021.