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The Man of the Trees: Richard St. Barbe Baker

Feb 21, 2021
Man of the Trees flyer

Dr. Richard St. Barbe Baker OBE (1889-1982) was arguably the first global conservationist, blazing a trail for contemporary environmental leaders such as Jane Goodall. He began his mission to save the world’s forests in 1922, when he started the first international NGO, Men of the Trees, in Kenya.

Baker was a visionary pioneer of concepts/practices such as sustainable development, agroforestry, agroecology, desert reclamation, fair trade, and ecotourism. Starting in 1931, he wrote thirty books about these ideas. A great adventurer, he travelled the world continuously from 1929-1982, networking with conservationists and lecturing on the need to plant trees to save the planet. In addition to kings and presidents, his extraordinary networks of contacts included leaders of thought, visionaries, and eminent scientists and artists. Starting in 1929, he worked with the Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith, Shoghi Effendi, to promote public discourse and social action on conservation.

He has been recognized as one of the outstanding figures of the conservation movement by environmental leaders such as Prince Charles, Jane Goodall, Wanjira Maathai (Green Belt Movement), Philippe Cousteau (EarthEcho International), Richard Leaky (International Centre for Research in Agroforestry), Sir Ghillian Prance (International Tree Foundation), Elizabeth Dowdeswell (Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, UN Under Secretary General, UNEP), and Peter Wohlleben (forester, author The Hidden Life of Trees). In 1969, The World Wildlife Fund appointed Baker its first Member of Honour.


DISCOUNT COUPON CODE: WILGIFT2

OFFER: 20% off “Richard St. Barbe Baker: Child of the Trees” for registrants of the WI webinar on Feb. 21 featuring Paul Hanley.

APPLIES: On all versions of the book purchased through BahaiBookstore.com (use the link above).

Soft Cover (Product Code: RSBB)
ePub (Product Code: RSBBEP)
mobi/Kindle (Product Code: RSBBMB)
Offer Expires: March 31, 2021.

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Paul Hanley

Author, Environmental Columnist

Although I was raised in a city, I became fascinated with agriculture as a youth and decided to “drop out” and become a smallholder farmer in Saskatchewan, Canada where I grew up. I helped form the first community land trust in Canada and lived on a self-sufficient, off grid farm for 10 years. During this time I became engaged in the Earthcare Group, a movement to promote organic gardening and farming and started to teach organic gardening classes for the University of Regina in 1975. I participated in the committee that organized a series of six groundbreaking conferences on organic farming involving producers and government and university experts. I edited and co-wrote Earthcare–Ecological Agriculture in Saskatchewan, published in 1980, a guide to organic farming in the prairie region. These activities contributed to the formation of a substantial organic farming industry in Saskatchewan and Canada in the 1980s and onward. I have published five books and 1600 articles on the environment, sustainable development, agriculture, and other topics.  I was environment columnist with the Saskatoon StarPhoenix from 1989 to 2016. I am a recipient of the Canadian Environment Award, the Meewasin Conservation Award, the Organic Connections Pioneer Organic Communicator Award, and the Saskatchewan Sustainability Award from the Regional Centre of Excellence for Education on Sustainable Development. My book ELEVEN (2014) received the 2015 University of Saskatchewan President’s Award for Non-fiction and the 2015 ABS North America Award for Distinguished Scholarship. My biography Man of the Trees: Richard St. Barbe Baker, the First Global Conservationist (University of Regina Press 2018), features a foreword by HRH Prince Charles and introduction by Jane Goodall.See Faculty Bio

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