Trees for Democracy
New York Times, December 10, 2004; Wangari Maathai

In her December 10th op-ed in the New York Times, Wangari Maathai, the 2004 winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, describes her efforts in Kenya and throughout the African continent to spread peace and democracy. Through her Green Belt Movement, Maathai encourages people throughout the world to plant a tree – hoping to help “heal the land and break the cycle of poverty.” In this exercise, Maathai says, she also found that “as I was encouraging farmers to plant trees on their land, I also discovered that corrupt government agents were responsible for much of the deforestation…” With this new understanding, the Green Belt Movement became a leading advocate of bringing back free and fair multiparty democracy to Kenya. Success came in 2002, when Kenyans held elections for a democratic government. “What we’ve learned in Kenya – the symbiotic relationship between the sustainable management of natural resources and democratic governance – is also relevant globally.”

To read the full Wangari Maathai's full Nobel lecture, click here.