National mourning ends as World remembers Prince Philip’s legacy in wildlife conservation

By Nneka Nwogwugwu

The national mourning for Prince Philip has officially ended on Saturday.

The mourning was for a period of his Death on April 9 and funeral on Saturday, April 17.

He leaves behind a lasting legacy in wildlife conservation.

Prince Philip had a lifelong passion for wildlife and supported various zoos, including ZSL London Zoo and WWF.

He was President of ZSL from 1960-1977 and an Honorary Fellow since 1977, Express UK reports.

From opening exhibits, to setting up prestigious awards to encourage young conservationists, he had a huge involvement in making ZSL what it is now.

He visited 143 countries in an official capacity and was involved with around 992 organisations, comments from his wildlife involvement can be found below.

ZSL commented: “HRH, The Duke of Edinburgh had a lifelong passion for wildlife. He supported ZSL for many years. We are so grateful to HRH Prince Philip and the Royal Family, who remain in our thoughts at this sad time.

“He leaves a lasting legacy at ZSL, where his passion for wildlife and conservation will live on.”
In 1961 the Duke became the first president of the World Wildlife Fund UK, becoming the organisations international president in 1981 till 1996.
Australian Conservation Foundation

Prince Philip founded Australia’s first ever environmental organisation, The Australian Conservation Foundation and today it is Australia’s most prominent environmental organisation.

There has been no official comment from the foundation as of yet, Express UK stated.

Philip began royal’s war against climate change in the 1950s.

Veteran BBC broadcaster David Attenborough paid tribute to the Duke.

David Attenborough praised the Duke of Edinburgh for his pioneering environmental work in the 1950s before climate change was the widely recognised crisis it is today.
Prince Philip, who served as the Queen’s royal consort for over 70 years, passed away at Windsor Castle on Friday morning.

Sir David told the BBC’s special commemorative programme paying tribute to Prince Philip that Duke had expressed concerns over the state of the natural world when it was “not seen as a problem.”

Sir David said: “What you have to remember in the early 1950s, it was not seen as a problem.

“The majority of people were quite unaware that we were heading for ecological disasters.”

For years, the Duke of Edinburgh warned about the “greenhouse effect”.

The Duke of Edinburgh told the BBC in 2011: “If we’ve got this extraordinary diversity on this globe, it seems awfully silly for us to destroy it.
“All these other creatures have an equal right to exist here, we have no prior rights to the earth than anybody else and if they’re here let’s give them a chance to survive.”

He enjoyed a close friendship with Sir David Attenborough and the world-leading environmentalist also touched upon the Duke’s passion for conservation, recounting his active role as the President of the Worldwide Fund For Nature.

Sir David said: “He met all kinds and conditions of people in wildernesses all over the world.

“And really relished getting out there and tinkering with things.