By David Akana In Nairobi
Since its inception, the Noble Peace Prize hadn't been won by an environmentalist/conservationist. In the past, the award went mostly to artists who were involved in conflict management, conflict resolution, mediation or the stabilisation of world order.
But this year, Professor Wangari Maathai, 65, a university lecturer, has been the first environmentalist to win the prestigious award. She beat rivals such as George Bush, Pope John Paul II, Kofi Annan and other top world personalities who are often on the world’s media.
She sometimes wonder why she should have won the award.
“Throughout the world, people should be asking themselves why the
Nobel community awarded the prize to me? she says.
“When I started the Green Belt Movement, people were asking themselves why such an educated person should be digging and planting trees… but everyone can plant trees,” she says.
She adds that the act of planting trees is very important for the stabilisation of the rapidly changing climate of the earth.
“When a child is born, plant a tree, when someone dies, plant a tree” she says.
To Wangari, it is simply this act of planting trees for the past thirty years that might have earned her the most prestigious prize in the world.
Addressing a group of journalists from Africa in Nairobi recently, Wangari thanked the Nobel community for recognising her work.
She said the recognition has enabled the environment to move on to the international agenda, adding that the entire world community shall be questioning the relevance of the environment today.
Beyond being an environmentalist, Wangari also has a record of having been one of the most outspoken critics of the former government led by President Arap Moi.
Her opposition of Moi's government caused her to go in exile in Dar-el-Salaam, in neighbouring Tanzania.
No Excuse For Pollution
Addressing a workshop on climate change for African journalists at the United Nations Environment Programme, UNEP, headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, Wangari said there are no excuses for pollution, be from developed or developing countries.
Wangari, who is also Kenya’s Deputy Minister of Environment and Natural Resources condemned the big polluters such as the United States and Australia for not ratifying the Kyoto Protocol, the international legal instrument, which obliges nations to reduce the emission of green house gases such as carbon dioxide (the greatest human cause of climate change).
For developing countries, Wangari said governments must show strong political will to curb the emission of green house gases.
“We often hide behind poverty to say that we cannot do it,” she said.
She reiterated that it is very important to curb the emission of green house gases so as to stabilise the climate of the world. It is in this light that she thanked the Russian Federation for ratifying the Kyoto Protocol and causing it to go into effect on February 16, 2005.
Planting Trees
According to Prof. Wangari, the only panacea to the rapid climate change is to plant trees.
"It takes nothing to plant a tree… everyone can plant a tree, she said.
“Planting of trees is more of a priority for us Africans than others because we need them for energy, we depend on them, yet we sell them out to others who do not even harvest their own trees, many of whom come here to harvest our forests because they are still virgin.
It is important for us to understand that these trees are an important and wonderful resource to us Africans and we are doing ourselves a lot of damage by depleting them,” she told journalists.
In 2002 Wangari was elected Member of Parliament and later that year, she supported the two architects of the National Rainbow Coalition which is today ruling Kenya, headed by President Mwai Kibaki.
Wangari was then appointed Deputy Minister of Environment in the government. Some political analysts in Kenya think that she deserves more than the position of a deputy minister.
But asked whether she enjoys a higher esteem from President Kibaki than before she was selected Nobel Peace Prize laureate, she says, “I do not know.”
She, however, said that the environment policies of the Kibaki-led government are much better than those of Daniel Arap Moi.
“We are handling the environment much better,” she said.
On whether she is better serving the Kenyan and African people in the civil society than in a government which is criticised by ordinary Kenyans for not doing enough to curb corruption and heavy government expenditure, Wangari said it is better to be where decisions are taken.
“I am much better in government because I can influence decisions… When you are outside, the decisions are taken in your absence, but when you are inside, you contribute in decision making…”
Using The Money
The Noble Peace Prize is worth several millions of dollars and for Wangari, she said she would use the money to create the Wangari Maathai Foundation to not only promote the work that has been recognised,
“But we also have other areas that we have not gone into such as culture and education.
This is because I want them to see the links between environment, education and development.”
Wangari, the first lady to receive the award from Africa will receive her prize this month in the Norwegian Capital of Oslo.
What a great achievement to all environmentalists and women especially.Can our environment be safe in the face of advance technology and with begger thy neighbour political policies?Should the environment be protected,would the world be what the creator intended it to be for us all to enjoy all that is in it.
Posted by: mbah chesami | Tuesday, 07 December 2004 at 05:53 AM
Who have been to Karura and seen how beautiful and refreshing it is to be there ?beleive Kiambu people who pass through on their way to Nairobi should be in the forefront planting trees as much as they can...
Imagine we didn't have OUR DEAR WANGARI MAATHAI...Karura could be no more again...buildings of all sort could have a been put up...the beauty of which we know the place could not be there....but a very ugly scene.....i beleive in modern day angels for the KANU government didn't see the beauty and value of Karura
And in getting the Nobel Prize i beleive it was natural for her to receive it she dedicated herself to the cause and she is notyet done Bravo prof...indeed i have started planting trees in your support......
Wewe no wetu......God bless
Posted by: Antony Gitau | Friday, 03 June 2005 at 02:16 AM