We were really fortunate in welcoming Professor Sir Ghillean Prance, FRS as our July Guest Speaker.

He told a packed hall that climate change is without doubt the greatest challenge facing mankind but damage to remote rainforests can sometimes appear to have little bearing on our everyday lives.

However, Professor Sir Ghillean Prance, FRS, Scientific Director of the Eden Project and former Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, left us in no doubt as to the seriousness of this issue.

In a highly informative address, Sir Ghillean presented compelling evidence of the very real impact that climate change is already having on our planet, its flora and fauna, and the ways in which it is adversely affecting the lives of people around the world. He spoke of the growing concern within the scientific community that climate change is starting to degrade the eco-services of our planet i.e. the very services that are needed to sustain life itself - fresh water supplies and the quality of the air that we breathe.

Burning fossil fuels is just one cause of climate change. Another is the rampant deforestation of the rainforest which accounts for 20% of the increase in CO2 in the atmosphere as well as the extinction of countless precious plants and animals.

However it is not all doom and gloom. Deforestation in Brazil is on the decline, the use of renewable energy is growing and multinationals are increasingly using raw materials from sustainable sources.

Whilst governments, scientists and industry have pivotal roles in addressing this problem, we as individuals also have an important part to play by reducing energy consumption, cutting out waste, recycling more, and lobbying our politicians to maintain their focus on this most important of all issues.

(Report written by Gordon Simmons)

Professor Sir Ghillean Prance, FRS, Scientific Director of the Eden Project and former Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew with our Chairman,Yvonne Welch