Prince William

[adrianmolesmole]

can fuck right off. Why is it when overpopulation is talked about the implication is always that there's too many black or brown people? Not to mention the hypocrisy of him having 3 kids himself. It makes me sick.

www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/11/24/prince-william-remarks-on-africa-population-growth-spark-backlash

@Elephantsparade

I think its a real shame. It just shows how having the wrong person give out awards can ruin something. I presume tusk will look for a new patron now. As i say, i totally get the reaction around colonialism but I feel quite sorry for the winners that the focus has been on this rather than their achievements, which sound really good.

Why should tusk look for a new patron? Just because there is a load of ignorant blather from SM?

There are nuances to the"population problem" in African and in fact, in many countries the rate is going down year on year. He was simplistic now as he was in 2017. He could have taken the 2017 criticism on board but he hasn't. Why? And habitat loss is also connected to western consumption. Of coffee, tea, minerals, rare earth, chocolate etc. Yet not in one of his speeches has he pointed this out. So yes he is willfully ignorant. The "Africa is extremely overpopulated" or "growing too fast" mantra has been debunked by staticians, geographers, etc. That's not to say families are not bigger there than here on average but it's an old colonial mantra that hides the realities and reasons for big families, the exploitation on the continent that keeps it poor and hence high birth rates, and the consumption in the West that keeps demanding cheap resources across the globe and hence continued exploitation of poverty and habitats.

@SallyLockheart

Zulu. So what are most Africans doing about the issue? Or don’t they care about the survival of wildlife?

Africans are doing a lot about this issue, I’m surprised you need to ask really. They care a lot about wildlife, it’s African Park rangers being killed by poachers, and local farmers being killed or their crops being damaged by elephants. I think it’s weird that Africans seem to be seen as incapable or unwilling to take care of the wildlife. Yet how many zoos are there in Western countries where these animals are not properly taken care off? .

@SallyLockheart

Zulu. So what are most Africans doing about the issue? Or don’t they care about the survival of wildlife?

The awards went to africans in africa who had dedicated their lives to conservation.

@Zuluqueen

Prince William is not right , Africans have been living alongside wildlife for a very long time. It’s amazing how these wildlife conservationists were the same ones trophy hunting in the colonial era. Most Africans are giving him a good dragging on twitter for this and rightly so.

Most Africans are on twitter? And they're all tweeting about this? Give me the stats, please.

Elephant. Then it’s a real shame that the media - and mumsnet posters -haven’t highlighted the excellent work being done by dedicated and knowledgeable local people and organisations. The anti William brigade here have totally soured the worthy objectives of Tusk and causes that should be highlighted. In an era of be kind, it seems that people want to drag everything down to conflict and division rather than look to see what is being done to improve in this case local wildlife

I hadn’t heard if the awards until all this media spat kicked off.

[quote CanIPleaseHaveOne]**@Madisonbridges* You're talking about it because he made the speech. If that publicises the plight of wild animals, I'm sure he's happy to take the criticism.*

Unfortunately most of us are not talking about the need to look after the animals. We are talking about a pompous prince who is annoying! Which should prove the point.

Let him know will you?

He strikes me as a person looking for a campaign who has hitched his wagon to this one. "Cause Hot Topic 'n all......[/quote]
Prince Charles has been talking about wildlife for years. Certainly at least 40 years. Both Princes William and Harry have been involved in this since their late teens. It's not something either of them have just started talking about.

But yes, people are talking about animals. Just on this thread people have been asking what Africans have been doing, and others are informing them. When William talks people listen, just as you've listened or you wouldn't be writing about it. Unless you didn't listen and you don't know what you're talking about.

All the royals have bred too much

@SallyLockheart

Elephant. Then it’s a real shame that the media - and mumsnet posters -haven’t highlighted the excellent work being done by dedicated and knowledgeable local people and organisations. The anti William brigade here have totally soured the worthy objectives of Tusk and causes that should be highlighted. In an era of be kind, it seems that people want to drag everything down to conflict and division rather than look to see what is being done to improve in this case local wildlife

I hadn’t heard if the awards until all this media spat kicked off.

It's the assumption that Africans are not doing anything themselves and it takes the great white hopes to fix things. I assume you do not come across any African related social media pages on this subject other otherwise you would see for yourself and not ask "what are Africans doing about it" - and some of it is quite innovative- not just in relation to wildlife. So as you said you were not aware until yesterday but there are many Africans who care about this topic and are actively doing their bit to find new ways to tackle their issues. But if PW has sparked interest in some posters maybe that will prompt them to look deeper at what Africans are doing for themselves.

If Africans are not doing anything, why were they being given an award? Make it make sense!

@SallyLockheart

Zulu. So what are most Africans doing about the issue? Or don’t they care about the survival of wildlife?

How on earth do you figure there is so much wild life in Africa? Or did you assume that it was the white saviours who go around to conserve these animals?

Africans have been caring for nature and conserving their environment for centuries. Always being sneered at as 'uncivilised' or not developed by the colonial mindsets just like William's.

William is right 🤷🏻‍♀️

@Whingasaurus

There's an anti William campaign running at the moment but this comment isn't wrong or unpleasant in fact it's an opinion held by many. 10/10 for spite 0/10 for integrity OP try again.

How do you figure there is an anti William campaign when no TV touched this. If anything our pompous prince is as protected as ever. I only saw The Times breaking this and then black people dragged him all over SM.

Btw, not only is he incorrect, he is also very unpleasant. The spite is coming from his mouth with these words, so you are right, he gets 10 for spite and 0 for integrity.

Is he right though?

My understanding is that as female literacy goes up, birth rates go down, but that it takes time to kick in (i.e. if you make sure that all 5 year old girls start school and STAY there, it will 30 years to "notice" that they all have fewer babies).

If you look at the charts here - ourworldindata.org/fertility-rate - you can see how the birth rates have been plunging in countries that have started educating women over the last 50 years. There are only a few outliers now - Niger and Mali - where women are NOT educated and go on to have 7 children.

The minute you teach a woman to read she stops getting pregnant every year.

If Prince William wants to save wildlife in Africa, he needs to push taking three steps back and start funding schools for girls in key countries in Africa, not demonising some of the poorest countries in the world (i.e. Niger and Mali for struggling with the effects of civil war and ongoing post-colonial political turmoil.

@astoundedgoat
Prince William doesn't study population rates himself. He can only be guided by the experts that do. I'm not saying you're not an expert, you may be and think differently. Here are the predictions made as printed in Quartz Aftica, Statista and The Economist. The Economist addresses why educating girls, in the short term, won't prevent the population boom.

Quartz Africa
(By 2100) total population in Africa will triple in the same period.

To be clear, a population boom in Africa has long been on the cards with earlier estimates showing that more than half of global population growth by 2050 will occur in Africa. However, the Lancet’s new findings cover a longer timeline and also corroborate earlier forecasts which show that Nigeria, already Africa’s most populous country, will drive the boom in Africa with an expected population of 790.7 million by 2100.

While several African countries will have lower fertility rates by 2100, the impending population growth will be due to its young population and the current high fertility rates across the region with only seven African countries—Cape Verde, Botswana, South Africa, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya—having fertility rates lower than the global average of 2.37 births per woman.

Statista
According to the forecast, Africa's total population would reach nearly 2.5 billion by 2050. In 2020, the continent had around 1.34 billion inhabitants, with Nigeria, Ethiopia, and Egypt as the most populous countries.

The Economist
Most experts agree that, if it continues at its current growth rate, like Nigeria, Africa’s population will double by 2050. That would be 2.5bn people, meaning more than a quarter of the world’s people would be in Africa. Few question those figures because much of the growth is already baked into what demographers term “population momentum”—that is, Africa has so many women of childbearing age that even if most decided to have fewer babies today, the population would keep expanding.

@rubicscubicle. What did you find spiteful and unpleasant about what he said? And what was he wrong about?

Zulu. So what are most Africans doing about the issue? Or don’t they care about the survival of wildlife?

This seems...a tad offensive.

@WeeTattieBogle

Really?

You don't think there's a single ridiculously wealthy family in africa sending their kids to foreign boarding schools, jetting round the world on business trips and holidays, living in giant houses, driving massive cars. That might be having more of an impact than PWs family?

confused

Africa isn't full of poor people living in shacks and washing their clothes in a river you know...

I think it’s something people would have to see to believe. The contrast between rich and poor.

Why would you have to see it to believe it? Do we not believe that there are billionaires in Africa or something?

@adrianmolesmole

His family of 3 have already consumed far more of the world's resources than any of those families will consume in their entire lifetimes

Exactly. Do the population of Africa fly about in jets regularly?

Lots do...

There's plenty of Africans that send their kids off to international boarding schools, living in mansions, driving massive cars, jetting around the world...

Why wouldn't there be Africans doing this?

@GingerScallop

The African Jetsetters are there but few. Besides, Thick William should start with himself before preaching even to those jetsetting Africans. Idiot racists colonial that he id

Not one single person is perfect - but they are allowed to raise awareness or support a cause.

For example, anyone who has a spare/guest bedroom... but donates to a homeless charity - selfish fuckers, they could let a homeless person sleep pin their house. Want to donate to help a child raise money for Children In Need - hypocrites!!! They should be adopting these children otherwise it's just not acceptable...

Prince Charles has been talking about wildlife for years. Certainly at least 40 years. Both Princes William and Harry have been involved in this since their late teens. It's not something either of them have just started talking about.

Why do people listen to the royals?

Doesn't the UK have any actual wildlife and conservation experts we could hear instead?

What qualifies PC or PW to talk about wildlife at all? If they are qualified, why should we listen to them when they shoot wildlife for fun, and still take young children on game shoots?

And if by some unlikely chance they are proved to be top experts and people would rather listen to them, than to people with degrees and jobs in ecology and conservation, then:

Where are the public apologies and speeches by modern royals distancing themselves from their family's barbaric wildlife-murdering past? Or is it all fine because they're "special"?

Why was tiger-murderer Prince Philip ever made President of the WWF?

Why was there a cover-up about Prince Harry shooting birds of prey?

I can't stand William at all (I'm a Harry supporter) but he is right in what he says. An argument can also be made that a lot of the poverty and starvation problems in these countries and countries that World Vision handle is due to a lack of birth control. William might not be the right person to say it, and I really don't like him or his wife, but he is 100% spot on. Can't fault the message at all.

For fun Munya Chawawa never misses
twitter.com/munyachawawa/status/1463818911179235333?t=K5MZMp287fLVo0S7EZvQpg&s=19

"Another criticism being levelled at the prince is why point the finger at African population growth? 🧐

It’s overconsumption in richer parts of the world that is causing most environmental damage."

👉 t.co/YlJbL5LQl8 t.co/WXGq58kEUJ

Not one single person is perfect - but they are allowed to raise awareness or support a cause.

Of course they are, but the people who raise awareness successfully will usually acknowledge their own faults, if not apologise for their own privilege or mistakes. They walk the walk, to use a really horrible phrase.

So when your entire family's legacy is built on white supremacy, invading other countries and shooting humans and animals at will and you say nothing about that, and when you yourself are still actively engaged in damaging the very cause you're advocating for, you just look like an idiot.

He needs to apologise and stop shooting grouse (for starters), or STFU.