(source)

Charles, Prince of Wales (14 Nov 1948 - ) British prince who, while heir apparent to the British throne, takes an active interest in civic issues such as architecture, the environment, education and disadvantaged people.

Prince Charles - Reforestation Quote

“Trees are Worth More Alive Than Dead”

Illustrated Quote - Medium (500 x 350 px)

Click here or image for larger picture

(source)

“My Rainforests Project … has three main elements. Firstly, to determine how much funding the rainforest countries need to re-orientate their economies so that the trees are worth more alive than dead.”

— Prince Charles

Speaking at the Presidential Palace, Jakarta, Indonesia (3 Nov 2008)

More Prince Charles quotes on science >>

The Context of Prince Charles' “Trees are Worth More Alive” Quote

In Nov 2008, the Prince of Wales delivered the Presidential Lecture, at the Presidential Palace, Jakarta, Indonesia, the world's third largest democracy. His main themes were the stewardship of Nature, the global concern with climate change, and the need for the whole world to unite and “with a real sense of urgency and resolve to act together.” He firmly believed that “We need, in fact, to see the problem in its broadest sense; it is not just a question of environmental protection but also one of social justice and community empowerment.”

“An archipelagic country such as Indonesia with over 17,000 islands and a coastline of more that 80,000 kilometres is left especially vulnerable. Rising sea levels are already affecting coastal settlements in Java and elsewhere, with both fisheries’ and agricultural productivity affected. … There will be unprecedented geo-political, economic and social upheavals.”

The Prince congratulated the Indonesian President for the initiatives he had taken to address the problems. Then the Prince explained the Rainforests Project he had started to help with the needed funding.

“The simple fact is that the world is not paying for the services the forests provide. At the moment, they are worth more dead than alive—for soya, for beef, for palm oil and for logging, feeding the demand from other countries. Speaking as someone from one of those countries, I think we need to be clear that the drivers of rainforest destruction do not originate in the rainforest nations, but in the more developed countries which, unwittingly or not, have caused climate change.”

For the remainder of his time, Prince Charles addressed how he believed the governments, companies and institutions around the world could become involved in constructive actions and the possible approaches to raising financial assistance.

“This is precisely why I started my Rainforests Project which … has three main elements. Firstly, to determine how much funding the rainforest countries need to re-orientate their economies so that the trees are worth more alive than dead. Secondly, to show how this funding can be provided by the more developed world and, thirdly, to help identify ways in which the funding could be used in a durable and equitable way by the rainforest nations.”

Prince Charles referred to the initiatives that were already in progress. “There are moves afoot to develop markets that can provide incentives to reduce deforestation. But this may take too long and we do not have the luxury of time. That is why we must find a way of anticipating these markets and helping them to develop; of mobilizing the truly awesome power of private sector capital to provide emergency financing. This is at the heart of my Project.

“When the rainforest nations have developed products and services to replace those that presently come from, or depend on, deforestation—and when the developed countries have created or enhanced the markets to buy these products and services—the private sector will, in effect, pay for the forests to be maintained.”

Deforestation illustrated quote, “Earth, Skinned Alive” >>

More Deforestation Quotes >>

(click for more about this quote and a larger picture • 500px • 800px)

Nature bears long with those who wrong her. She is patient under abuse. But when abuse has gone too far, when the time of reckoning finally comes, she is equally slow to be appeased and to turn away her wrath. (1882) -- Nathaniel Egleston, who was writing then about deforestation, but speaks equally well about the danger of climate change today.

Carl Sagan: In science it often happens that scientists say, 'You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken,' and then they would actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again. They really do it. It doesn't happen as often as it should, because scientists are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time something like that happened in politics or religion. (1987) ...(more by Sagan)

Albert Einstein: I used to wonder how it comes about that the electron is negative. Negative-positive—these are perfectly symmetric in physics. There is no reason whatever to prefer one to the other. Then why is the electron negative? I thought about this for a long time and at last all I could think was “It won the fight!” ...(more by Einstein)

Richard Feynman: It is the facts that matter, not the proofs. Physics can progress without the proofs, but we can't go on without the facts ... if the facts are right, then the proofs are a matter of playing around with the algebra correctly. ...(more by Feynman)

Quotations by: • Albert Einstein • Isaac Newton • Lord Kelvin • Charles Darwin • Srinivasa Ramanujan • Carl Sagan • Florence Nightingale • Thomas Edison • Aristotle • Marie Curie • Benjamin Franklin • Winston Churchill • Galileo Galilei • Sigmund Freud • Robert Bunsen • Louis Pasteur • Theodore Roosevelt • Abraham Lincoln • Ronald Reagan • Leonardo DaVinci • Michio Kaku • Karl Popper • Johann Goethe • Robert Oppenheimer • Charles Kettering  ... (more people)

Quotations about: • Atomic  Bomb • Biology • Chemistry • Deforestation • Engineering • Anatomy • Astronomy • Bacteria • Biochemistry • Botany • Conservation • Dinosaur • Environment • Fractal • Genetics • Geology • History of Science • Invention • Jupiter • Knowledge • Love • Mathematics • Measurement • Medicine • Natural Resource • Organic Chemistry • Physics • Physician • Quantum Theory • Research • Science and Art • Teacher • Technology • Universe • Volcano • Virus • Wind Power • Women Scientists • X-Rays • Youth • Zoology  ... (more topics)