Richard St. Barbe Baker was responsible for the planting of more trees than any other person in history. When one considers the programs he initiated, the organizations he founded or co-founded, his prolific writings, radio and television interviews, lecture tours, press conferences, visits to schools and government agencies, and especially the meetings with heads of state, the scope of his legacy defies enumeration. For instance, some remarks by St. Barbe (as he was referred to by his friends), at a luncheon with the President of Ireland, sparked a prompt doubling of that country’s tree planting program. St. Barbe’s individual efforts and insights, bolstered by the World Forestry Charter Gatherings he began in 1945, effected changes in the science of silviculture at the planetary level. His enthusiasm was boundless and contagious. Wendy Campbell-Purdy, an Englishwoman, heard St. Barbe speak about desert reclamation and bought a one-way ticket to North Africa, where she dedicated her life to establishing tree-planting programs in the Sahara desert of Morocco and Libya.When St. Barbe was in his seventies he took flying lessons and briefly manned the controls of one of the world’s fastest jets on a trip to Moscow. He received a royal welcome in Russia where his book, Green Glory – The Forests of the World, was a forestry textbook being used by government departments. A summary of the book had been circulated in schools around the country.
His research into, and cogent analysis of, the world history of forestry – which he pursued for much of his life – provides a benchmark for future generations. He traveled to Central and South America and was among the first to propose and plead for an economic solution from the international community that could halt the devastation of the Amazon rainforests. At the age of 90, St. Barbe made the first of two trips to a remote area of the Himalayas in India where the women of the Chipko tree-hugging movement had, in desperation, taken a bold stand against the deforestation of the region. It appears that he was the first westerner to visit them in their villages and then publicly express support. He spoke out on their behalf with the full force of his prestige. In the last year of his life, at the age of 92, he touched thousands of lives during a global tour to promote environmental awareness. A young Zhu Zhaohua, who became China’s greatest forestry scientist, met him that year in Beijing.
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