Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Day in paradise STYLISH
Meghan strokes her baby bump after relaxing day at luxury spa Prince’s pledge to save forests
public barge for a 45-minute calm crossing to the pristine and unique Fraser Island and his ultimate goal, Pile Valley, and a rainforest which exists on the sand.
It is the only rainforest in the world that grows out of the sand, with towering 50m tall satinay trees.
Harry was welcomed to Pile Valley with a traditional smoking ceremony to ward off evil spirits by members of the Butchulla People, the traditional owners of the land. now under protection. Prince Harry’s second stop was the iconic Lake Mckenzie, where a Butchulla elder performed a “welcome-to-country” ceremony dipping foliage into the crystal-clear water and washing the Prince’s bare feet.
The dad-to-be, said: “It is up to us now to protect this paradise together – not just because it looks beautiful – but because it is an essential part of our existence and will continue to be for our children and their children’s children.”
Harry also joked that the plaque he was to unveil, marking the dedication, had already been unveiled by his father in Bundaberg during his tour of Australia in April.
He said: “Luckily we are both skilled at unveiling plaques – it runs in the family.”
ON QUEEN’S CANOPY FOREST
The Duke was there to mark the forest’s dedication to the Queen’s Commonwealth Canopy Initiative, a growing area of protected forests across the organisation’s 53 member states.
K’gari has 200,000 acres PRINCE Harry declared the importance of protecting the rainforests as he toured Fraser Island yesterday.
The Duke was welcomed by the native Butchulla People to see the 1,000-year-old Satinay trees and shown their sacred Spirit Tree.
Butchulla ranger Conway Burns told him how when they died their spirit “returns to our people in these trees”.
Harry was in the Forests of K’gari to mark its dedication to the Queen’s Commonwealth Canopy initiative, a collection of protected forests across the organisation’s 53 member states.
Unveiling a plaque, the dad-to-be said: “K’gari means ‘paradise’, and that is certainly what we’ve experienced today surrounded by the towering Kauri pines, 1000 year-old satinay trees and ancient giant ferns.”
Fraser is the world’s largest sand island, boasting 206,970 acres of protected forest.
It became a Unesco World Heritage site in 1992 and earlier this year, the Prince of Wales announced its dedication to the Queen’s Commonwealth Canopy.
Some 20 million trees are now being planted across Australia as part of the programme.