Her Royal Highness Queen Diambi Kabatusuila's recent visit - Tim Jones

This might not be a name you would immediately recognise. Her Royal Highness is of full regal status. She is the royal representative of the Tribe of Bakwa Luntu. She comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo. In addition to her position in the Congo, she also represents the interests of African’s who have settled in Brazil. In total, she represents around 10 million people. This however is only the beginning of a description of her background, she walks on an international stage, she is recognised around the world as a global ambassador. She has unique access to the leaders of government also around the world. Her personal credentials are equally impressive, with a glittering array of academic achievements including a professorial appointment.

What, you might reasonably ask, has her Royal Highness got to do with Northern Devon?

Her passion in life is being an environmental activist. She is able to use her huge impact to encourage government leaders and policy makers to implement changes, to bring about the necessary improvements to ensure that we protect our planet’s natural capital and achieve the temperature target reduction necessary to overcome the otherwise inevitable impact of climate change.

Within the Congo, there are 6 major rivers. Apart from these being vital trade arteries, they are also sources of water for the resident population.

A picture taken today of these rivers would show a virtually solid surface of plastic objects, so thick that you could virtually walk on them. The disposal of plastics is not scientifically managed in the Congo and therefore the river networks are an easy option for disposal. The impact of this is of course catastrophic, not only for the pollution it causes and the degradation of water supplies but also the impact this has when these rivers discharge these loads into the ocean. River and ocean plastic pollution is now a global issue, not just from the Congo but from many other countries including the UK. Currently, there is no effective solution to this insidious problem. Single use plastics remain an essential feature of our daily lives. Nobody has yet worked out a system for effectively disposing of them. Biodegradable alternatives are slowly being introduced but it will take years to improve the current situation. There may be a clever scientific solution that can be found but, as yet, this is not the case. It is for this reason that this is a global not regional or local problem. The effects of this have been found in many of the food stocks that we rely upon (obviously including fish). Scientists are also now able to track this back to the human body and can trace minute particles of plastic within our digestive systems and new born babies.

It was as part of Queen Diambi’s global ambition to tackle this problem, that she found the great initiative we are running – Plastic Free North Devon. To remind you, this is a grassroots community organisation that aims to inspire North Devon residents, tourists and businesses to drastically reduce their consumption of single-use plastic, remove it from the environment and dispose of it properly.

Her Royal Highness believed that this project would be a good way of connecting with the UK. Accordingly, she made contact with us. She has just completed her second Royal visit to the UK and made a special trip to the South West in order to establish a partnership arrangement between her global project and our own programme. She met with various key influencers including Andy Bell from the Biosphere. She has confirmed that she wants to now formally establish a partnership with us. This is a huge privilege and a huge opportunity. She has also promised that she will return to visit Northern Devon, which would give many of those in our communities the chance to meet her. She is undoubtedly one of the most inspirational speakers I have encountered.

Written by Tim Jones, Chairman of the North Devon Biosphere