Quite often when you help poor people, they don't think about the environment. They think about survival. — Wangari Maathai Copy Share Image
We are very fond of blaming the poor for destroying the environment. But often it is the powerful, including governments, that are… — Wangari Maathai Copy Share Image
The living conditions of the poor must be improved if we really want to save our environment — Wangari Maathai Copy Share Image
You can't reduce poverty in a vacuum. You are doing it in an environment. — Wangari Maathai Copy Share Image
We tend to put the environment last because we think the first thing we have to do is eliminate poverty. But you… — Wangari Maathai Copy Share Image
The essential role of the environment is still marginal in discussions about poverty. While we continue to debate these initiatives, environmental degradation,… — Wangari Maathai Copy Share Image
We have a responsibility to protect the rights of generations, of all species, that cannot speak for themselves today. The global challenge… — Wangari Maathai Copy Share Image
In a few decades, the relationship between the environment, resources and conflict may seem almost as obvious as the connection we see… — Wangari Maathai Copy Share Image
It gradually became clear that the Green Belt Movement's work with communities to repair the degraded environment could not be done effectively… — Wangari Maathai Copy Share Image
We refuse to share resources; we govern irresponsibly. If we are confident, if we have some of our cultural values, then we… — Wangari Maathai Copy Share Image
Sometimes when I talk to little children I remind them of the fact that when I was growing up myself, I used… — Wangari Maathai Copy Share Image
If Africa is left behind, she is going to continue pumping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, especially carbon. She's going to continue… — Wangari Maathai Copy Share Image
Those of us who witness the degraded state of the environment and the suffering that comes with it cannot afford to be… — Wangari Maathai Copy Share Image
We see that the environment is something to exploit, because we see the environment in terms of minerals for example, or forests,… — Wangari Maathai Copy Share Image
People need open space. People need to bring their children into an area where they can play without restriction." And I was… — Wangari Maathai Copy Share Image
It is evident that many wars are fought over resources which are now becoming increasingly scarce. If we conserved our resources better,… — Wangari Maathai Copy Share Image
We need to promote development that does not destroy our environment. — Wangari Maathai Copy Share Image
I am working to make sure we don't only protect the environment, we also improve governance. — Wangari Maathai Copy Share Image
Until you dig a hole, you plant a tree, you water it and make it survive, you haven't done a thing. You… — Wangari Maathai Copy Share Image
You cannot protect the environment unless you empower people, you inform them, and you help them understand that these resources are their… — Wangari Maathai Copy Share Image
We owe it to ourselves and to the next generation to conserve the environment so that we can bequeath our children a… — Wangari Maathai Copy Share Image
We tend to put the environment last because we think the first thing we have to do is eliminate poverty and send… — Wangari Maathai Copy Share Image
The women of the Green Belt Movement have learned about the causes and the symptoms of environmental degradation. They have begun to… — Wangari Maathai Copy Share Image
Education, if it means anything, should not take people away from the land, but instill in them even more respect for it,… — Wangari Maathai Copy Share Image
I learned in America a long time ago, the three R's, the principle of three R's - reuse, reduce, recycle. And as… — Wangari Maathai Copy Share Image
The privilege of a higher education, especially outside Africa, broadened my original horizon and encouraged me to focus on the environment, women… — Wangari Maathai Copy Share Image
For us who are now in power, we need to be challenged to serve the people and ignore our own egos and personal interests… — Wangari Maathai Copy Share Image
We cannot tire or give up. We owe it to the present and future generations of all species to rise up and walk! — Wangari Maathai Copy Share Image
What I am trying to say is that they need to learn to rely on themselves and to learn from other people, and when… — Wangari Maathai Copy Share Image
As long as there is no trust and confidence that there will be justice and fairness in resource distribution, political positioning will remain more… — Wangari Maathai Copy Share Image
If Africa is left behind, she is going to continue pumping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, especially carbon. She's going to continue logging the… — Wangari Maathai Copy Share Image
That's the way I do things when I want to celebrate, I always plant a tree. — Wangari Maathai Copy Share Image
I think that for anybody who has worked in the civil society, government bureaucracy moves very very slowly. — Wangari Maathai Copy Share Image
I have seen a lot of men, for example, who will make a will and include their daughters whether they are married or not.… — Wangari Maathai Copy Share Image
I was particularly talking with respect to aid, because that to me is one area that can make people so dependent, and unfortunately, that… — Wangari Maathai Copy Share Image
African women in general need to know that it's OK for them to be the way they are - to see the way they… — Wangari Maathai Copy Share Image
As a scientist I cannot say we don't want to hear anything about GMOs, because these are advances in science. But I think its… — Wangari Maathai Copy Share Image
When I first started, it was really an innocent response to the needs of women in rural areas. When we started planting trees to… — Wangari Maathai Copy Share Image
