Prince Charles calls for rainforest protection to fight climate
change May 15, 2008 Speaking on the BBC's Today program, Charles
said he supported the establishment a mechanism that would
compensate tropical countries for preserving their forests. He
noted that forests provide critical services for humanity. "When
you think [rainforests] release 20 billion tonnes of water vapor
into the air every day, and also absorb carbon on a gigantic
scale, they are incredibly valuable, and they provide the
rainfall we all depend on," Charles said. "The trouble is the
rainforests are home to something like 1.4 billion of the
poorest people in the world. In order to survive there has to be
an effort to produce things which tends to be at the expense of
the rainforest," he continued. "What we've got to do is try to
ensure that those forests are more valuable alive than dead. At
the moment there's more value in them being dead. This is the
crazy thing." Rainforest in Borneo The prince called on
governments, business, and con