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	ECOLOGICAL PARTY

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The Ecological Party was an environmentalist party, strongly dedicated to "seeking harmony rather than conflict" with the natural world. The Ecological Party was originally established as the political arm of the Sepuro Movement, the country's most prominent environmental action group. It later merged with the pacifist Utopian Party to form the modern Ecotopian Party.

Colour and Emblem

The official colour of the Ecological Party was green, although in a somewhat lighter shade than is used by the modern Ecotopian Party. The Ecological Party's official symbol was a pine tree.

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The party's official name in Lendian was "lo Partido Ecologiano", although simply "lo partido naturo" (the natural party) was also common in unofficial use.

Quote

"Active measures to protect the natural world from destruction are required both by ethicality and practicality. The ethical reason is that we have no right to harm other living things merely because we obtain benefits from doing so. The practical reason is that we ourselves will not survive if we continue to destroy our own habitat."

History of the Party

The Ecological Party was founded in 262 AP. It was established by the Sepuro Movement, an environmentalist organisation with strong traditions of activism. Initially, the Sepuro Movement had confined its political activities to lobbying, attempting to convince existing parties (particularly the Socialists) to adopt more environmentally-friendly policies. While the Sepuro Movement had a certain amount of success, many people in the group felt that it was not enough, arguing that no matter how much a party supported environmentalism, it would still have other focuses which would distract its attention. The Sepuro Movement eventually concluded that a party focused only on the environment was the only way to achieve results.

The early Ecological Party did not meet with huge success, but nevertheless made a certain amount of progress. Much of its impact came in terms of its influence rather than its electoral gains, with environmental issues being put forward in the minds of the public. Many analysts and historians claim that the increasing attention given by the large parties to environmental matters was a result of pressure put on them by the Ecological Party. If so, however, the Ecological Party may have actually damaged its own ability to win seats - in the 270s, with many large parties putting forward strong environmental policies, the Ecological Party was seen as redundant. In an attempt to differentiate itself from the large parties, the Ecologicals took increasingly extreme positions, and as a result, were further marginalised by the electorate.

In 289 AP, the weakened Ecological Party formed an alliance with the Utopian Party, a party dedicated to pacifism. Support for the Utopians had increased markedly in recent years, with fighting in West Uhlan prompting strong protests against war. There was considerable overlap between the environmentalist vote and the pacifist vote, and the Ecological Party believed that co-operation between the two parties was in the interests of both. Supporters of the two parties had been urging them to forge closer ties for some time, believing that to do otherwise was a waste.

While there was considerable support for closer association among the supporters of each party, the actual party leaders were less enthusiastic. In the Ecological Party, there was concern among both officials and candidates that close association with another party would dilute the focus of the group. Not all were opposed, however, and in 290 AP, it was officially proposed that the Ecologicals and the Utopians form a united environmentalist/pacifist party. Most senior figures in the Ecological Party were not supportive of the plan, but it was nevertheless agreed to put the matter to a vote of the party's membership. In the end, 56% favoured merger, and the Ecotopian Party was born.

List of Leaders

• Micualo Dias (262 - 270)
• Morgana Sanriana (270 - 281)
• Ricardo Danteo (281 - 290)