Branching out … Prince Harry takes a picture of baobab trees in Liwonde National Park in Malawi.Photograph: SussexRoyal via Getty Images
When celebrities become guest editors of corporate social media accounts, it usually results in dozens of pouting selfies. For this reason, Prince Harry’s takeover of the National Geographic Instagram account to encourage people to “look up” and get lost in the beauty of trees is a weirdly enticing concept.
On Monday, the Duke of Sussex curated a set of images of forest canopies each taken by National Geographic photographers, which went out to the publication’s 123 million followers. The idea was to highlight the importance of conservation while spotlighting the Queen’s Commonwealth Canopy campaign, which will result in two national parks being created in South Africa, where Harry is touring. As part of the campaign, 50 countries have either dedicated indigenous forest for conservation or committed to planting millions of new trees to combat climate change.
One image shows Harry flat on his backside, taking a photo of an imposing South African baobab tree, which can live for more than 1,000 years and, due to its size, even sustain its own ecosystem. The Duke has captured its spindly branches with a finesse rewarded by 412,000 likes.
The other photographs, which include a red-leafed autumnal British tree and the distinctive strangler fig, with its branches knotted together like a spider’s web, are strikingly beautiful. It is a shame, though, that the accompanying captions – in which Harry describes how the strangler fig’s twisty barks helped it earn its name or why the red leaves of autumn in the UK are special – are so alarmingly redolent of a basic Wikipedia search.
A few more details on why these trees are so ecologically important might have been a good idea. Fortunately, the National Geographic’s enthusiastic readers don’t seem to mind: one of the top-rated comments is from rappers Cypress Hill, whose use of the tree emoji may allude to sparking up debate about a very different kind of plant.
Thanks to its snappy hashtag (#LookingUp) and hundreds of thousands of likes, the campaign will at least encourage Instagram users to find out more about the potential of planting trees. New research predicts that a worldwide planting programme could have a “mind-blowing” effect by removing as many as two-thirds of all the emissions that humans currently pump into the atmosphere. It argues that with 1.7bn hectares of treeless land available, which is roughly the same size as the US and China combined, around 1.2tn native tree saplings could be naturally grown. Suddenly, Harry liking trees seems kind of cool.
Critics will surely point to the hypocrisy of Harry fronting an eco-friendly campaign while riding around in a private jet. Nonetheless, in encouraging the public to regard trees as holy beings, rather than disposable wood, his takeover of the National Geographic’s Instagram spotlights the important role these natural giants can play in preserving the future of our planet.
Prince Charles, infamously once revealed how he likes to talk to his plants, but Harry’s fascination with trees appears less like a midlife crisis and more like a savvy social media-friendly way to address global warming. After weeks of unflattering headlines about his and Meghan’s travelling habits, Harry’s tree-hugging won’t do much to get them back on side, but in terms of positioning the Duke of Sussex as, well, the Green Prince, it looks like mission accomplished.
