Bahá’í World/Volume 18/Richard St. Barbe Baker
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RICHARD ST. BARBE BAKER, O.B.E.
1889—1982
PASSING DISTINGUISHED DEDICATED SERVANT HUMANITY RICHARD ST BARBE BAKER LOSS TO ENTIRE WORLD AND TO BAHAI COMMUNITY AN OUTSTANDING SERVANT SPOKESMAN FAITH. HIS DEVOTION BELOVED GUARDIAN NEVER CEASING EFFORTS BEST INTERESTS MANKIND MERITORIOUS . EXAMPLE, ASSURE FAMILY FRIENDS PRAYERS SACRED THRESHOLD BOUNTIFUL REWARD PROGRESS SOUL ABHA KINGDOM. Universal House of J ustice 10 J une 1982
Ecology is not a new branch of science, but rather one newly appreciated by recent generations. This interest in the pattern of relations between organisms and their environment is no longer the preserve of academics;.the general public’s concern in this field has assumed an increasingly important profile. As with so many other areas of human endeavour, the questioning of inherited traditional values in the mid-lSOOs encompassed our relationship to the natural environment. One of the most important figures in articulating these questions and engaging the public in a search for new directions was an Englishman who became widely known as ‘the Man of the Trees’.
Richard St. Barbe Baker, usually addressed
THE Bahá’í’ WORLD
Richard St. Barbe Baker
as St. Barbe, was born on 9 October 1889 at West End, near Southampton, in England. His long life as a forester, author and conservationist brought to many generations the message of the importance of the natural environment and', in particular, trees. His unique synthesis of the practical knowledge of a trained forester and an almost mystical vision of the role that forests play in the life of man‘ served to inspire millions of people the world over to become involved in restoring what he referred to as the i‘. . . earth’s green mantle, the Trees’. He was the first Bahá’í to achieve international recognition for his forestry and environmental work, and so it is appropriate to examine not only the contribution he made to his profession, but also to the influence of the Bahá’í Faith on his development.
As a young man, St..Barbe went to homestead in Canada in response to a call for Christian men to attend to the spiritual needs of settlers 0n the prairies. He bought land in the newly-created province of Saskatchewan,
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IN MEMORIAM
and devoted himself to building up congregations in rural areas. Then, in 1909, he enrolled in the first class of the University of Saskatchewan, in Saskatoon.
It was while living in the Canadian west that he first saw the effects of the sudden disruption of an entire ecosystem. The ploughing up of immense areas of prairie grasslands to create farms, with only sporadic compensation measures such as planting tree shelterbelts, resulted in much valuable topsoil being blown away. Similarly, when he began working at a lumber camp in northern Saskatchewan, he witnessed the unnecessary waste of trees as virgin forests were logged. He left for England in 1912, determined that one day he would be involved in forestry and conservation work. However, the Christian ministry was still his first calling, and he enrolled in Divinity at Ridley Hall, Cambridge. This pursuit was soon interrupted by the outbreak of World War I, in response to which he enlisted and served in France. Following the war St. Barbe returned to Cambridge and this time took a diploma in Forestry at Caius College.
Thus qualified, he went to Kenya in 1920 to serve under the Colonial Office as Assistant Conservator of Forests. In Africa he again saw evidence of the tendency to take too much from the land and to exploit excessively the forests. In the highlands of Kenya large tracts of land had been devastated by a combination of the introduction of goats, the clear-felling of forests and the arrival of white settlers. St. Barbe conceived a plan to restore the indigenous forests using a system under which food crops were planted between rows of young native trees. Several years of crops would be harvested before the trees grew to a' size that necessitated moving to a new site, leaving behind a potential forest and demonstrating that supplying people’s basic needs is not incompatible with managing forests. Thousands of tree seedlings were needed for the operation, and departmental funds that St. Barbe had at his disposal were negligible.
In 1922 he took a step, unprecedented at the time, to remedy this lack of- funds. He consulted with the Africans themselves, approaching the Kikuyu Chiefs and Elders in the area and enquiring how their tribesmen could be enlisted to help with tree planting. He worked with them to develop a scheme for the
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voluntary planting of trees. This resulted in three thousand warriors coming to his camp from among whom, with the assistance of the Chiefs, he selected fifty to be the first Watu wa Miti, or Men of the Trees. They promised before N’gai, the High God, that they would protect the native forest, plant ten native trees each year, and take care of trees everywhere. The society of The Men of the Trees later spread to many other countries and its membership today includes men and women from all walks of life. His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales became the Patron of the organization in 1979.
In the last decade foresters have begun to realize that the answer to deforestation lies in persuading the local people that safeguarding their forests will preserve their livelihoods, while planting new forests will actually enhance their standards of living. This approach of enlisting local people is now called ‘social’ forestry. St. Barbe began implementing this idea half a century before it became accepted practice, and was the object of much criticism during his early days for becoming too involved with the indigenous people of Kenya and elsewhere. He lived long enough to see the climate of opinion change and to witness recognition of his pioneering work in helping to pave the way for the adoption of a new philosophy in forestry.
After leaving Kenya in 1924, St. Barbe went back to England where he read a paper on African Bantu beliefs at the First Congress of Living Religions within the Commonwealth. At the conclusion of his talk he was approached by Claudia Stewart Coles who introduced him to the Bahá’í Faith by explaining that his genuine interest in another’s religion struck a sympathetic chord with the Bahá’í principles. Under her guidance St. Barbe studied the Faith and embraced it shortly after.
Although he was later appointed Assistant Conservator of Forests for the southernprovinces in Nigeria and served in this post from 1924 to 1929, there was one event during St. Barbe’s tenure in Kenya that prevented his ever rising higher within the ranks of the Colonial Office: a superior officer attempted to strike a Kikuyu worker with the butt end of a rifle and St. Barbe stepped in to intercept. He felt that it was an unfair action and took
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the blow on his own shoulder. Considered an outrageous act of insubordination at the time, the episode is still remembered by Africans. It helped St. Barbe in enlisting their support for his many tree-planting programmes. He was later to reflect that: ‘My discharge from the Colonial Service liberated me for much greater work in reafforestation and earth regeneration in other parts of the world.’
The first indication of the new direction of his career came in 1929 when the High Commissioner of Palestine, Sir'John Chancellor, asked St. Barbe to apply the lessons garnered during his time in Kenya to help unify disparate religionists in the British protectorate. In a move. that indicated his appreciation of the role of the Bahá’í Faith, St. Barbe’s first action was to approach its Guardian, Shoghi Effendi, who became the first life member of The Men of the Trees in Palestine. Working closely with the High Commissioner, St. Barbe then went on to enlist the Chancellor of the Hebrew University, the Grand Mufti Of the Supreme Muslim Council, the Latin Patriarch, the Bishop of Jerusalem and others, explaining that: ‘. . . there was no land needing trees more than Palestine and no land would respond so well to planting.’ From this initiative, forty-two nurseries were established. However, St. Barbe realized that providing the seedlings was not enough, and so he set out to establish tree planting as part of the culture, as he had done so successfully in Kenya. To this end he was instrumental in making Tu Bi’Shvat (the traditional Feast of Trees) a national treeplanting day which is-now taken up by most Israeli schoolchildren. In his project in Palestine St. Barbe had the active support of notables including Field Marshal Viscount Allenby and Sir Francis Younghusband. His ability to enlist the help of prominent figures was now combined with his appreciation of the practical side of forestry and an understanding of how to involve local people in his plans. Thus was set a pattern of action which was to result in the. involvement of millions of men and women around the world in the planting of billions of trees.
For many, St. Barbe will be remembered for two of his undertakings which more than any others seemed to capture the public’s imagination: his work to save large tracts of
THE BAHA’I’ WORLD
California coastal redwood trees, and his plans to reclaim millions of acres of the Sahara desert.
By the early 19305 the redwoods of California were under threat from lumber operations. Although there was talk of saving small groves of these trees, St. Barbe felt it was necessary to set aside an area large enough to sustain the natural climate needed by the micro-forest. He raised interest in his plans by lecturing extensively across the United States and Britain. With a rhodest financial contribution towards the 'save the redWoods‘ project from The Men of the Trees in the United Kingdom, St. Barbe was able to attract the attention of the American public who in turn responded with contributions amounting to over ten million dollars. The result was that a natural reserve of twelve thousand acres of redwoods was handed over to the State of California to be preserved for all time.
In 1952, with the blessing of several major universities, St. Barbe led the first Sahara University Expedition. His book Sahara Challenge describes the 9,000-mile journey and outlines his conviction that the phenomenal pace with which the Sahara over the centuries was merging into the Libyan desert could be arrested, further encroachment prevented and reclamation undertaken if the correct action was taken. As in other areas, St. Barbe was ahead of the times in his vision of trees forming a ‘Green Front’ against the Sahara and other deserts. Only recently have governments and international agencies such as the United Nations begun to properly address the issue of the spreading of deserts. And yet St. Barbe was aware of the root cause of this delay. He wrote: ‘The conquest of the desert will have to start with the conquest of the heart of man. We have witnessed tremendous strides in scientific research and inventions, but it is obvious that the spiritual advance of mankind has not kept pace with scientific progress.’ He presented the challenge of reclaiming the Sahara as: ‘. . . A One World Purpose” that ‘would unite East and West and be the scientific and physical answer to the world’s dilemma.‘
For many years following his acceptance of
the Bahá’í Faith, people would often know St.
Barbe for some time before learning that he
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was a Bahá’í, for he was also an Edwardiana composite of convention, eccentricity and
very strong principles—who found it difficult
to discuss religion, let alone ascribe himself
publicly to this ‘unconventional’ Faith. However, as his friend of many years, David
Hofman, said of St. Barbe’s very first encounter with Bahá’í: ‘He always said that this was
the beginning of his true life, and he realized
that he derived so much benefit from these
[Bahá’í] prayersthat it was only fair that he
should serve the Bahá’í Faith to the best of his
abilityAMr. Hofman also noted that: ‘. . . he
spread knowledge of the Faith wherever he
went and was greatly admired by Shoghi
Effendi for his dedication to the cause of
humanity.’ He served the Faith throughout his
life in his work as a forester and author. He
wrote: ‘The simple act of planting a tree,
which is in itself a practical deed, is also
the symbol of a far-reaching ideal, which is
creative in the realm of the spirit, and in turn
reacts upon society, encouraging all to work
for the future well—being of humanity rather
than for immediate gain.’
A letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to St. Barbe on 31 May 1953 bears a postscript in the Guardian’s own hand: ‘May the Almighty abundantly reward you for your splendid and manifold activities in the service of the Faith, and enable you to enrich continually the record of your greatly valued and meritorious accomplishments, Your true and grateful brother . . .’
St. Barbe died on 9 June 1982 in Saskatoon. Although he was in his ninety-second year, he. was still full of plans and was working on his thirty-first book. Just days before his death he planted his last tree on the grounds of the University of Saskatchewan. He had gone full circle to return to the place which had helped kindle a vision that, fuelled by the Bahá’í Faith, aided the creation of a new understanding in the consciousness of men of the importance of trees.
A HUGH C. LOCKE