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TRH The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall visit Brunei - Prince plants landmark tree during visit to reforestation project
31st October 2008
The Prince of Wales will plant the 1,000th tree of a reforestation project during his official visit to Brunei.
The Heart of Borneo Initiative aims to preserve 220,000sq km of rainforest through a tri-country partnership of Brunei, Malaysia and Indonesia. Over the past 6 months, children from the international and local schools have planted hundreds of trees to rehabilitate a fire-damaged area of primary rainforest in degraded Bruneian peatlands. The planting of the 1,000th tree in the Badas reserve is an important landmark and forms part of the International School of Brunei’s “Million Trees” project aimed at helping to restore forest continuity across Borneo in support of the Heart of Borneo Initiative.
As well as visiting the rainforest initiative, The Prince, together with his wife, The Duchess of Cornwall, will also meet Bruneian students who have studied in Britain and soldiers from the Royal Gurkha Rifles, of whom His Royal Highness is Colonel-in-Chief.
British High Commissioner Mr John Saville said today:
“We are delighted that the Prince and Duchess are visiting Brunei and seeing for themselves the strong educational and defence links with the UK, as well as the important work which is being done in the Borneo Rainforest as part of the fight against climate change. Brunei has played a pivotal role in achieving consensus for the 3-nation Heart of Borneo initiative, has allocated around 60% of its land area to the initiative and has created strong popular civil society support. I am particularly pleased that the UK has been able to help in practical ways.”
The Prince and The Duchess will spend two days in the Kingdom, as official guests of His Majesty The Sultan of Brunei.
On Friday (31st October), Their Royal Highnesses will travel to the British Garrison at Seria where they meet soldiers and their families as well as seeing for themselves some of the equipment and training techniques used for both desert and jungle warfare.
Lieutenant Colonel Jonny Bourne, OBE, Commanding Officer, The 1st Battalion, The Royal Gurkha Rifles said: “This visit is a great honour for the British Forces Brunei, and a fitting tribute to those members of my battalion awarded decorations for their bravery during their recent operational tour in Afghanistan.”
After the Garrison, the Prince will visit the Heart of Borneo Rainforest project at Badas, where he will meet the main movers behind Brunei’s conservation work, both inside and outside of government, and talk to local school children about their involvement in the “Million Trees” project and wider environmental advocacy.
Professor Wangari Maathai, the Nobel Prize-winning environmentalist, who launched the Million Trees project when she visited Brunei with the help of the British High Commission in 2007, said: “I have been very impressed with the popular grassroots support in Brunei for the Heart of Borneo initiative; I am delighted that the Prince of Wales will have the chance to see the progress that has been made to date.”
Dato Hamdillah Wahab, Chairman of Brunei’s Heart of Borneo Council added: “This visit will give us the chance to showcase our work on the Heart of Borneo to the Prince of Wales, whose keen interest in the environment is well known; it will also give our efforts a great boost going forward as Brunei strives to be a beacon of the Heart of Borneo Project and a strong model of public and private sector partnership”
On Friday evening, The Prince and The Duchess will have an official audience with His Majesty The Sultan of Brunei Darussalam before an official dinner at the Banquet Hall of the Istana Nurul Iman (the Sultan’s Residence). Guests at the dinner will include members of the Royal Family, Brunei Government and staff of the British High Commission.
The following morning (Saturday), The Prince and The Duchess will meet students and staff at UBD (Universiti Brunei Darussalam), which has strong links with a number of British Universities, including the University of Wales, of which HRH is Chancellor.
During the visit, The Prince will present certificates to 25 Bruneian graduates who have graduated from courses at University of Wales Institute, Cardiff over the last two years. The Prince and the Duchess will also see a workshop for schoolchildren on Islamic art techniques run by the Prince’s School of Traditional Arts, a charity located at The Prince’s Foundation in Shoreditch. The workshop is one of a series by PSTA, highlighting Britain’s Islamic credentials and promoting inter-faith dialogue.