Wangari Maathai speaks her mind

•She began a tree planting campaign in 1977 to help reforest her native Kenya and provide jobs.
•Her Green Belt movement is now an environmental and political force that has inspired the world
• Once considered a dissident, she now works from within the government
• Won the Nobel Peace Price in 2004
• Her 7 areas of concern adress her history and her hopes for the future:

1. Environment:
Many issues we deal with at a national level are actually symptoms of larger problems. Instead of worrying about such symptoms, we should worry about the causes. As a professor in the University of Nairobi's faculty of veterinary medicine in the 1970's, I often went into the countryside. When it rained there, I'd see topsoil wash away. Then I'd hear rural women express need for fire-wood, clean water, and nutritious food. I realized these things were all connected. Kenya's indigenous forests had been turned into plantations. Our country was so hungry for cash crops that too much vegetation had been removed to farm them. Degredation of land was widespread.

2. Empowerment:
At a national council of women of Kenya forum i suggested we engage women in tree planting to solve these problems, since trees provide wood and food, and stop soil erosion. We later had resistance from the government then in power. We under-stood that its members fought us not because we'd planted trees but because we had organized and challenged the mismanagement of the environment.

3. Education:
When people are educated to the links between environment and government, they can improve both. Through civic and environmental education programs, they lose their apathy and get involved.

4. Good Government
Without a government that is respectful of people's rights, the environment will gradually be destroyed by privatization of public lands. In Kenya we changed the system we struggled with for so many years and are now proud to have a more democratic government.

5. Sustainable Development
Environmental needs must be taken into account. If we manage resources more responsibly and share them more equitably, many conflicts over them will be reduced.

6. Employment
People need opportunities and resources in the places they live. Otherwise many migrate to big cities seeking jobs that are not there. Kenya's solutions to this problem include allocating funds for rural areas to help address poverty and give young people the skills they need to be competitive in the job market.

7. The Future
As we work to create a world that honors and rewards women, we look to our daughters and think of the future. I hope that daughters, not only in Africa but all over the world, we be inspired and know that if they are commited and patient, they can achieve something worthwhile.