Britain’s Prince William urged for protection for the "natural world" as he appeared at the Tusk Conservation Awards 2015 last night (24.11.15).
The 33-year-old royal – who has been a patron for the charity Tusk since 2005 – was on hand to honour those who had undertaken "extraordinary work" to promote conservation across Africa.
Speaking at the event, he said: "People often ask me why I am so passionate about this cause. There are many reasons, but one of the most obvious is because of the human impact.
"As the world’s population becomes more and more urbanised, an increasing number of people will grow up with little or no connection to the natural world. This will become a major challenge for conservationists. If people cannot see it, they will never learn to value it, or worse still will take little interest in looking after it.
"The planet and our natural resources is not something we can afford to squander."
The Duke of Cambridge also insisted Africa is facing "unprecedented challenges" from poaching and illegal wildlife trading.
He added: "Africa continues to face unprecedented challenges in terms of poaching, driven by the burgeoning illegal trade in wildlife.
"Sadly, all too often rangers are out-resourced and out-gunned. Most of them never imagined that they would need to lay down their lives to protect their country’s heritage. But that is the harsh reality."
Britain’s Prince William urges for protection of nature
