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Published on August 12, 2007

In a speech on the occasion of her 75th birthday, HM the Queen said she had campaigned vigorously against deforestation for decades but the efforts seemed to be fruitless.

If the country's forest land continues to be destroyed, supplies of fresh water will rapidly dwindle and run out in the next two decades, she said.

Her Majesty urged the government and the public to help preserve existing forests and promote new forest plantations so that people will not suffer from droughts in the near future.

If the situation is not properly managed, the country might be forced to buy water from other nations and the poor will suffer the most, she warned.

"During the [July 2-11] state visit to Russia, I saw lots of forest plantations along the way. If that's not useful, why have the people done it over there?

"On the other hand, we do have lots of forests but we do not have the conscience to protect those trees. We need to keep them for our children and grandchildren," she said.

In her speech, the Queen also describe the warm welcome given to her by Russian President Vladimir Putin, ministers and senior officials during the state visit.

Afterwards, she continued the journey to Germany, where she granted an audience to about 4,000 Thai students. She told them that she believed Buddhism should not be politicised in the new constitution, which will be put to a national vote on August 19.

According to Her Majesty, Buddhism is beyond the political arena, where mistakes can be made, so religion should not be mixed with political affairs.