Sir Tim Smith says the world is a better place now than when he co-founded Project Eden 25 years ago, and he believes humans have become more attuned to the natural world.
Speaking like a project in Cornwall reaches its 25th anniversary, Smith described extreme political views as a “roar” of people fearing they won't be able to control the future, but he said they will fade when people realize good things are just around the corner.
“When people see that part of this future is going to be amazing, they won't want to control it in the same way,” he said.
Smith, a visionary, outspoken and sometimes controversial figure, likened people's support for UK reform to a dirty party they would regret and then leave.
“It's like people going out for a bachelor party and feeling stupid the next day,” he said. “You wake up remorseful. And then you think, actually, we should act more morally. I think this will become a more moral period.”
“People are very strange in that they think that the past has always been a better place. In fact, today is quite good, and tomorrow will be even better.
“Human beings are fundamentally good. Humans have fundamentally the same instincts as tribal primates. We like to take care of each other. We like to be gentle. We really love to laugh. And we tend to be at our most rude only when resources are scarce.”
Eden opened in 2001. in order to study the place of man in nature. There was talk of a growing climate emergency, but it was not on the agenda.
Smith said: “The main inspiration was that most people didn't realize that without plants there is no life on Earth. Project Eden is a monument to the importance of plants.”
He said that the “Holy Grail” in Eden was to create a “narrative arc” that would make people see the natural world as something to which they truly belong. “So if they harm the natural world, they harm themselves.”
Smith said the situation is dangerous. “Our winters are getting wetter and our summers are getting drier. We know that even a small change in climate can cause things beyond our control. Our consumer culture is incredibly damaging to our ability to plan ahead.”
“We don't conserve our water; we allow people to poison our water. Privatizing water was a complete mistake. It was about the dogma of ownership rather than the best use of things for the public good.”
But he said there is hope, including in the plant world, such as advances in understanding mycelium: A thread-like network that forms the main part of the fungus, which can be grown in building materials and purify polluted environments.
Some 25 million people have visited Eden not only to stroll through the rainforest biome, but to attend everything from concerts. lineup for next year includes Pixie and Becky Hill – for public events.
“I’ve always believed that bringing groups of people together is a good thing,” Smith said. “It's a spiritual experience with a small S. It's special, it's hopeful.”
Smith said that for Britain, as an island nation, one of the vital things was reliable energy.
He said: “I find it absolutely crazy that Britain doesn't have a vision for becoming completely energy independent. If you have energy independence, there's nothing you can't grow. And if there's nothing you can't grow, that means you have the two main ingredients – food and energy – under the control of your island nation. No matter how poor you are in debt, you can feed yourself, rebuild and be reborn.”
In 2022, Smith was criticized for suggesting that Cornish people were not articulate and were too fond of remembering imaginary “good old days”. Another of his plans is to build an educational center for gardening, agronomy and cooking on the hillside above the Cornish town of Lostwithiel. sparked violent protests and was rejected by the advisors.
But Eden brought many millions into the Cornish economy. The organization estimated the figure at £2.2 billion in 2019 and will provide an updated figure in the new year, which it says is much higher.
There are plans to build a new Eden on the seashore in Morecambe in Lancashire and in Dundee, Scotland. “Eastern Eden” is open in Qingdao, eastern China.
Smith admitted that when Eden first opened its doors, he was outraged by the public entering: “It was our baby at the time. Now I feel happy. I think it's beautiful.”
“The real magic of the natural world is that plants have adapted and created the same leaf structures as in the rainforest, which shows that there is a pattern, there is a system. Nature knows a thing or two, but the absolute joy of Project Paradise is that the young people who come here feel like it gives them permission to dream.”
