THE
ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY - HONG KONG
presents
“The Earthwalker”
by
Paul Coleman
on
Wednesday, 11 June 2008
2/F
Olympic House, So Kong Po, Causeway Bay
Drinks Reception 6.30 pm; Lecture 7.30 pm
We are delighted to welcome to Hong Kong Paul Coleman, “The Earthwalker”, to lecture on
his extraordinary feats of walking, which have encompassed most of
the earth. Since 1990, Mr. Coleman has walked 46,500 kilometres,
through 41 nations, planting trees, spreading the environmental
message and inspiring people to actions that are for the good of
humanity. His most famous walks, from Canada to South America, from
San Francisco to Sarajevo and his present walk, “The Greening
the Olympics Walk”, from Hong Kong to Beijing, are some of the
many trips recounted in Mr. Coleman’s lecture, which is richly
illustrated by slides from the countries he has visited on his
marathon trips.
In 1988, after seventeen years travelling the world, Mr Coleman realised
that the planet’s environment was in serious trouble. So he
decided to give up his job as principal advisor to a member of the
British Royal Family, to dedicate his efforts to the earth. Soon
after, he was leading Balsa Raft Expeditions down the Amazon, wading
through Piranha-infested waters, meeting the people of the forests
and promoting ways that the forests could be saved. These journeys he
funded himself, but eventually the money ran out and he decided to
take the ancient path of walking to deliver his message to the
world’s people.
On 25 July 1990, with just
enough money for one month, Mr Coleman began a two-year walk from
Canada to South America to draw attention to the first United Nations
Earth Summit in 1992. Within one month, he had no money, but was
appearing frequently in the media and when he entered Mexico he was
accompanied by major television personalities and the news was
broadcast across both sides of the border. Within three weeks he was
meeting mayors and getting media coverage and support in every town.
In one town, the Mayor gave him a tree, which he planted in the
centre of a roundabout, and from then on, every day, in every
community, every city, Mr Coleman has planted trees. Popular support
grew until finally he was speaking to thousands of people a day. The
support got so great that the President of Mexico presented him with
a Federal Police Escort that was to last for two thousand kilometres.
This drew much more support and media coverage and soon the Mexican
government unveiled plans to save its own virgin forests. At another
event he planted the first of 500,000 trees in the middle of the Pan
American Highway in front of a mural bearing his inaugural words and
the flags of Mexico, the United Nations and Canada.
Following Mexico, the support of
Presidents and national governments continued until he arrived at the
Earth Summit, with tree plantings, escorts and public lectures
arranged. In Guatemala there was a reception at the Guatemalan Hall
of Congress, while the Costa Rican Minister of the Environment
announced a new policy for the country’s rain forests at a
reception in his honour. Thousands of kilometres of walking on, at
the Earth Summit, he was welcomed by Dr. Noel Brown, the UN Chief
representative for the Americas who presented Mr Coleman with a
United Nations award for his efforts and coined the phrase the
'Earthwalker', by which he has been known ever since.
On 15 May 1994, Mr Coleman began
walking from San Francisco to Sarajevo to plant a tree of peace. At
the time the City was in the middle of a three years siege, bombarded
and surrounded by Serbian forces. Along the way, walking through the
United States and Europe, he explained in numerous lectures how the
earth is impacted by war and delivered the concept of 'Peace through
Ecological Restoration'. UNESCO and the UNHCR supported the walk and
provided assistance in the war zone. This meant that where there was
a UN base he could sleep in relative safety. After being arrested
six times, every time under the threat of execution, a run through a
sniper zone, and a journey through a front line trench, he finally
arrived at the hand dug tunnel (that is now a major war monument)
leading into the besieged city. At the entrance to the tunnel,
Sarajevo's only connection with the outside world, he was forced face
down in the mud as three shells exploded mere meters away.
Miraculously he arrived on 21 April 1995 with a tree on his back. The
tree was planted the next day, 22 April followed by an address to the
Sarajevo General Assembly the next day as shells fell in the
background.
On 22 September 2007, Mr Coleman
began walking from Hong Kong to Beijing, joining China's efforts to
Green the Olympics. By walking to the Olympics, he is meeting China’s
people, and spreading the environmental message that China, both for
its own sake and that of the world, needs to develop in a sustainable
way. He has received considerable official support and is being
followed daily by the Chinese and International media. With his wife
and supporters he has now walked 2,500 kilometres from Hong Kong to
the flood plains of Northern Jiangsu. He has walked through cities
large and small, through towns, villages, and communes, hiking
through rice paddies, along beaches, over mountains, down highways,
through every type of environment, experiencing China's environment
at its worst and at its best. Joining him on this walk is his
Japanese born wife Konomi Kikuchi and others from all around the
globe. The Chinese walkers have included numerous university students
and Olympic Volunteers.
Mr. Coleman was born and
educated in the United Kingdom in the then heavily-polluted City of
Manchester. Since his 1988 transformation to a full-time
environmentalist, he has represented many organisations, including as
Ambassador to the United Nations’ “Peace Messenger
Initiative” and as the Charity Ambassador to ‘The Living
Rain Forest”. Two Motions have been entered into the British
Houses of Parliament supporting his walks including the House of
Commons unanimously adopting the motion “That this House
welcomes Mr Paul Coleman's walk from Hong Kong to Beijing to help to
encourage China to host an environmentally-friendly Olympics in
Beijing in 2008.” He is also an author, with books and papers
published worldwide and he recently narrated the Sony movie 'Our
Planet' which premiered on the world’s largest movie screen at
EXPO 2005. His environmental efforts have been recognised and
honoured by many national governments and Mr. Coleman is presently in
Hong Kong to receive an award from the International Environmental
Organisation as well as to receive a nomination for this year’s
Okinawa Peace Prize.
Mr Coleman has delivered more than a thousand lectures, all the way
from the ivory towers of Eton and the Palace of Westminster to open
air crowds in some of the poorest countries on the earth.
Members and their guests are
most welcome to attend this lecture, which is HK$50 for Members,
HK$100 for guests and $150 for others.
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