News Archive

The Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Professor Stephen Hopper, will urge us to change our behaviour to help save the planet during a free public lecture at The University of Western Australia next Wednesday, July 2.

Professor Hopper, a UWA graduate and Foundation Professor of UWA's Plant Conservation Biology, believes every one of us can make a difference to ensure that our ‘breathing planet' continues to breathe.

"We live in exceptional times.  People around the world are increasingly concerned about ongoing environmental change, declining quality of life for many and the associated loss of biodiversity," he said.

Professor Hopper's lecture, ‘Breathing planet - plants, Kew and you', will honour the late Joseph Gentilli, who devoted 60 years of his life to the University's Geography Department, from when he began teaching in 1939 after arriving in Fremantle from Italy, until his death in 2000.

"For the first time, more people now live in cities than in rural areas globally, making the need to stay in touch with nature all the more urgent for a sustainable future.  The diversity of plant life in particular is essential to the habitats that form the world, and is vital for our own wellbeing," Professor Hopper said.

"The ongoing erosion of wild vegetation is degrading the quality of life for billions of people and prejudicing the drive to eradicate poverty.  Deforestation alone accounts for a fifth of man-made carbon emissions - more than the world's transport systems.

"Plant life must be conserved, repaired and restored if climate change is to be moderated and humanity is to have a tolerable future."

Professor Hopper, a former chief executive of the Botanic Gardens and Parks Authority which manages Kings Park, will talk about Kew's Breathing Planet Program which, by 2020, will make a sustainable impact in countering some of the environmental challenges we face.

"If we all change our behaviours and landscape ethics to encourage plant diversity and make a greener world, the future will be brighter than present forecasts suggest," he said.

The lecture, from 6.30pm to 7.45pm, will be held in the University Club Theatre Auditorium.

Media references

Audrey Barton (Institute for Advanced Studies)  (+61 8)  6488 4797
Janine MacDonald (UWA Public Affairs)  (+61 8)  6488 5563  /  (+61 4) 32 637 716