With the one year anniversary behind us, I think back to the Congress and to the small oak trees that were placed on each table at the inaugural dinner at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in Budapest, Hungary. As you Congress-goers remember, the following day we carried the trees with us during the field trips. We wanted to plant them, "give something back," and symbolize our hope and optimism for the future of the planet.
By now our saplings have taken root and, I'm sure, are doing well in their new Hungarian homes — Kiskunság National Park and Bükk National Park. Like our young trees, the spirit of the Congress will need nurturing in order to be sustained over time. And we are the Congressional gardeners.
Influenced by Al Gore’s film on climate change, An Inconvenient Truth, I am reminded of the aviation fuel consumed back in April just to get our several hundred participants from 30 countries to Hungary and back home again. On the last day of the Congress David Murphy and Radim Machu (Czech Republic, 1997) came forward to remind us how each of us contributes to climate change. The two Congress participants went on to describe how, at a personal level through a multitude of small acts, we could redress the impact of our collective carbon footprint from the Congress. In fact, we were all told to go home and plant trees.
Planting young oaks, Kiskunság National Park. Photograph © Greig Cranna
It would be wasteful at the very least to have returned to our places of origin with little more than good feelings to commemorate our time together. While being in Hungary was indeed very special, the Congress was, more importantly, a call to QLF for action! Paricipants expressed a desire to work together in cross border collaboration, members of an international QLF conservation team. We are now addressing their wish in the Global Leadership Network.
Larry Morris
April 2007