Day two of the Start royal tour

The Prince with an outline of Wales at the 'Size of Wales Rainforest Initiative' launch.

On day two of the royal tour, The Prince of Wales visited the National Botanic Garden of Wales in Carmarthen to open a two-day Start Wales festival. Celebrating sustainability, the festival included exhibits and workshops covering energy, transport, food, architecture and recycling.

The Prince met members of the local community before launching three new projects: The Size of Wales Rainforest Initiative, The Prince’s Regeneration Trust’s Green Guide for Historic Buildings and the Carmarthenshire Community Challenge.

The Rainforest Initiative aims to preserve an area of tropical forest in Africa the size of Wales (two million hectares), and is part of the country’s national response to climate change. The Green Guide for Historic Buildings is a practical guide to help those who own and work on historic buildings make successful environmental adaptations, while Carmarthenshire Community Challenge aims to get everyone involved in creating a sustainable county.

Speaking at the festival, The Prince said: “Put simply we are, right now, causing serious damage to our own and, more importantly, our children and grandchildren’s, support system. It seems to me, for far, far too long all the talk about the environment has been about stopping people from doing things… Ladies and gentlemen, if we get it right we will leave a legacy for future generations of a sustainable environment. But we will never achieve what we need to unless we make a start.”

All images copyright Ben Birchall/PA Wire