Voting Station

Richard St. Barbe Baker

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Advocate

The Resume

    (October 9, 1889-June 9, 1982)
    Born in West End, Hampshire, England, United Kingdom
    Forester and environmental activist
    Served in the Royal Horse and Field Artillery during World War I
    Appointed Assistant Conservator of Forests in Kenya (November 1920)
    Founded Men of the Trees (now called the International Tree Foundation), an international, non-governmental organization that plants and protectes trees (July 22, 1922)
    Converted to the Bahá'í Faith (shortly after 1924)
    Assistant Conservator of Forests in the southern provinces of Nigeria (1925-1929)
    Founded the World Forestry Charter Gatherings (1945)
    Undertook a 25,000-mile expedition around the Sahara Desert as part of a reforestation effort to reclaim it (1952-1953)
    Writings include 'Kabongo' (1955), 'Land of Tane: The Threat of Erosion' (1956), 'Sahara Conquest' (1966), 'My Life, My Trees' (1970), and 'Men of the Trees' (2015)
    Died in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

Why he might be annoying:

    His work with native peoples raised suspicions among colonists, preventing him from rising through the ranks of the colonial government.
    He believed that the vegan way of life is the only sane way of life.
    He claimed that there would be abundant food for all and tensions between west and east would end if people stop exploiting animals.
    He was divorced from his first wife after seven years of marriage. (1953)
    The origin of the 'St. Barbe' part of his last name is a mystery.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He was severely wounded three times while serving in World War I, and nearly died in an incident had a member of the burial party not noticed his ID tag that the 'corpse' was bleeding.
    His reforestation methods involved working with indigenous peoples, allowing him to earn their respect.
    He founded and aided organizations that have planted about 26 trillion trees worldwide.
    He strove to prevent further desertification brought on by reckless agricultural, logging, and grazing practices.
    He encouraged prominent religious figures to cooperate together in his tree-planting initiative while in Mandatory Palestine.
    He helped promote Tu BiShvat, the Jewish 'New Year of the Trees', as a tree-planting day.

Credit: Big Lenny


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 15 Votes: 53.33% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 14 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 42 Votes: 52.38% Annoying