I am working to make sure we don't only protect the environment, we also improve governance. — Wangari Maathai Copy Share Image
An individual citizen cannot protect himself from the powers of large corporations or external governments. It is the responsibility of the government… — 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
Human rights are not things that are put on the table for people to enjoy. These are things you fight for and… — 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
One of the reasons why I've written The Challenge for Africa is to save it. Surely there are so many problems we… — Wangari Maathai Copy Share Image
What is really important is to educate people how to protect themselves and how to ensure that, despite their poverty, they can… — 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
One of the reasons why we started the Green Belt Movement is to work with these ordinary peasant farmers so as to… — Wangari Maathai Copy Share Image
In Kenya, one of our biggest exports is coffee. Where do you grow coffee? You grow coffee in the land. To be… — 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
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
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
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
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
That's the way I do things when I want to celebrate, I always plant a tree. — Wangari Maathai Copy Share
I think that for anybody who has worked in the civil society, government bureaucracy moves very very slowly. — Wangari Maathai Copy Share
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
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
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
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
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
Monsanto will not come empty-handed. Monsanto will come with a big bag of money. And because these governments are poor, when they are shown… — Wangari Maathai Copy Share
Why has there been so much secrecy about AIDS? When you ask where did the virus come from, it raises a lot of flags.… — Wangari Maathai Copy Share
I stand before you and the world humbled by this recognition and uplifted by the honour of being the 2004 Nobel Peace Laureate. As… — Wangari Maathai Copy Share
