An individual citizen cannot protect himself from the powers of large corporations or external governments. It is the responsibility of the government to protect its citizens. Wangari Maathai More Quotes by Wangari Maathai More Quotes From Wangari Maathai I think what the Nobel committee is doing is going beyond war and looking at what humanity can do to prevent war. Sustainable management of our natural resources will promote peace. Wangari Maathai humanity war thinking You can't reduce poverty in a vacuum. You are doing it in an environment. Wangari Maathai vacuums poverty environment Unfortunately, the issues of climate change, unlike many other issues, are very subtle because the changes we observe are very, very subtle. Wangari Maathai climate-change issues climate For me planting a tree is a very doable thing. It's not complicated, it doesn't require technology, it doesn't require much knowledge, but it can be a very important entry point into communities understanding how they destroy their own resources, but how they can also restore those resources, and not wait for their government or international agencies to come and help them. Wangari Maathai agency technology government The developed world should be willing to help [Africa] and support her and make this energy affordable. Wangari Maathai support energy world When these resources are degraded or polluted, then there are fewer of them for the rest of us, and then we start competing for them and eventually as we compete, there are those of us, who have the capacity, who have the ability to be the controllers, to decide who accesses them, how much they access, and eventually there is a conflict. Those who feel marginalized, those who feel excluded, eventually react in an effort to get their own justice, and we have conflict. Wangari Maathai conflict effort justice Resources on the planet are limited, and limited resources can come to an end. But there are also a lot of resources that are renewable. A lot of land, for example, can be reclaimed from the encroaching deserts. Wangari Maathai desert land example First of all, farmers should work with universities and research institutions in the country, and hopefully with the government. Wangari Maathai government research country The government of Qatar, as I mentioned, has proposed to come and lease Kenya's Tana River delta in order to farm there. What I am not sure of is, has an environmental impact assessment been made to ensure that exploiting this delta for agricultural activities is the best way we can use the delta?We must be concerned about the long-term impact of agricultural activities in the delta. Wangari Maathai qatar rivers order It's a matter of life and death for this country. The Kenyan forests are facing extinction and it is a man-made problem. Wangari Maathai life-and-death men country There's a general culture in this country to cut all the trees. It makes me so angry because everyone is cutting and no one is planting. Wangari Maathai cutting tree country It was easy to persecute me without people feeling ashamed. It was easy to vilify me and project me as a woman who was not following the tradition of a 'good African woman' and as a highly educated elitist who was trying to show innocent African women ways of doing things that were not acceptable to African men. Wangari Maathai feelings men people The issue of carbon is one area where we really need to work together and if people don't have the technology they need, that technology needs to be made available and affordable. Wangari Maathai issues technology people What is really important is to educate people how to protect themselves and how to ensure that, despite their poverty, they can get tested and access drugs. So I just hope that those who can will make those drugs available. Wangari Maathai drug important people The essential role of the environment is still marginal in discussions about poverty. While we continue to debate these initiatives, environmental degradation, including the loss of biodiversity and topsoil, accelerates, causing development efforts to falter. Wangari Maathai environmental effort loss I'm sure that many people who are involved in an environmental effort ... they will be pretty much encouraged by this recognition. Wangari Maathai environmental effort people When resources are degraded, we start competing for them, whether it is at the local level in Kenya, where we had tribal clashes over land and water, or at the global level, where we are fighting over water, oil, and minerals. So one way to promote peace is to promote sustainable management and equitable distribution of resources. Wangari Maathai oil fighting land Some say that AIDS came from the monkeys, and I doubt that because we have been living with monkeys from time immemorial, others say it was a curse from God, but I say it cannot be that. Wangari Maathai hiv monkeys doubt Obviously the world is moving away from high carbon energy to low carbon energy, and eventually moving away toward renewable energy. So it is in the interest of Africa to move towards that, because that's where the world is moving. Wangari Maathai energy world moving Yet now the industrialized world is moving away from fossil fuels and moving towards renewable sources of energy. And because we have not invested so much into education, we don't have the technology and sometimes we don't even have the capital to buy this technology. Wangari Maathai technology energy moving
