FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Werner Fornos, president of the Washington, D.C. based Population Institute, will deliver a public lecture at the University of Arkansas at 12:30 p.m. Friday, April 4, in the Science and Engineering Auditorium.

An internationally recognized expert on world population issues, Fornos will deliver a lecture entitled, "Gaining People, Losing Ground."

"Failure to give high priority to population issues in international affairs may see us committing the ultimate global blunder, one from which there is no recovery," Fornos warns.

Among the points Fornos will make in his lecture is the accelerated growth of the global population in past decades. According to the Population Institute, it took all of recorded history until 1830 for the world’s population to reach one billion. By 1930 the number was two billion, three billion in 1960, four billion in 1975, five billion in 1987, and now it is 6.2 billion and growing by more than 78 million each year, with 97 percent of that growth occurring in the poorest countries.

"The problem is not that we are sexier than any pervious generation." Fornos said. "We have conquered death through medical breakthroughs, mass inoculations and sanitary improvements. We have been less successful, however, in making a wide variety of effective, efficient and affordable methods of family planning universally accessible."

Fornos maintains that nations will have to redouble their efforts to stabilize population growth at sustainable levels to avoid rapid urbanization, social disintegration and urban poverty. His lecture will suggest methods of slowing population growth, including educating young people about population issues and responsible reproductive behavior and empowering women worldwide with educational and employment opportunities.

The Population Institute, located in Washington, D.C., is an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to achieving a more equitable balance between the world’s population, environment and resources. The Institute has members in more than 174 countries.

Fornos has been president of the Population Institute for more than 20 years. He makes frequent national television and radio appearances and contributes to newspaper and magazine articles that have appeared in such national publications as the Dallas Morning News, Chicago Sun-Times, The New York Times and the Washington Post.

Named one of the 100 most influential persons in development and environment by the New York based Earth Times for the third consecutive year, Fornos is a multiple Rotary International Paul Harris Fellow; a recipient of the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of Maryland and most recently the recipient of the Order of Merit, the highest distinction granted by the German government to a non-German citizen in recognition of humanitarian efforts.

Fornos has dedicated his energies and talents to speaking to diverse audiences, from college students and civic organizations, to U.S. and U.N. officials — pressing for "rational solutions to the population problem."