It may be too late to save the natural world, fears Prince
THE Prince of Wales has spoken of his deep fears over the destruction of the natural world, saying the changes needed to save it could come too late.
The Prince, a lifelong environmental campaigner, said the loss of biological diversity “terrifies me”, admitting the “really difficult thing” is persuading people there is an alternative.
Lamenting “the fact that we seem to have forgotten that everything in nature is interconnected”, he told The Daily Telegraph of his concerns for the “untold damage” already caused to the world’s water cycle.
The Prince, a keen gardener, appeared to make headway in persuading Donald Trump of the need for a “good climate” during his state visit this week.
They spent 45 minutes together over tea at Clarence House, in which they are understood to have had “friendly” discussions despite their opposing views.
The president, who withdrew the US from the Paris climate change agreement, said of the conversation: “He wants to make sure future generations have climate that is good climate as opposed to a disaster, and I agree.”
In an interview with the Telegraph magazine celebrating the 25th anniversary of his gardens at Highgrove, the Prince tells of his organic approach to gardening – once ridiculed but now a mainstream practice.
He said: “If change is happening, it’s happening very slowly – too slowly – and it’s coming too late. This is what frightens me. The increasing loss of biological diversity terrifies me, and the fact that we seem to have forgotten that everything in nature is interconnected, including ourselves.
“Unfortunately, the destruction is continuing at a rapid pace – chemicals of every description, artificial fertilisers and antibiotics are still being used in all kinds of ways, all of them entering the rivers and going out to sea where they’re causing untold damage to the marine environment, often without people knowing it.
“To a certain extent much of this can be rescued but the really difficult thing is to persuade people there’s an alternative way … as there is for plastics.”
The Prince, who made his first speech about the environment in 1968, has been recognised in recent years for his foresight on topics including marine conservation and plastics.