Trees for Democracy

WHEN I was growing up in Nyeri in central Kenya, there was no word for desert in my mother tongue, Kikuyu.

But today in Nyeri, as in much of Africa and the developing world, water sources have dried up, the soil is parched and unsuitable for growing food, and conflicts over land are common.

But today in Nyeri, as in much of Africa and the developing world, water sources have dried up, the soil is parched and unsuitable for growing food, and conflicts over land are common.

But today in Nyeri, as in much of Africa and the developing world, water sources have dried up, the soil is parched and unsuitable for growing food, and conflicts over land are common.

So it should come as no surprise that I was inspired to plant trees to help meet the basic needs of rural women.

As household managers in rural and urban areas of the developing world, women are the first to encounter the effects of ecological stress.

As a member of the National Council of Women of Kenya in the early 1970's, I listened as women related what they wanted but did not have enough of: energy, clean drinking water and nutritious food.

My response was to begin planting trees with them, to help heal the land and break the cycle of poverty.

Trees stop soil erosion, leading to water conservation and increased rainfall.

Trees stop soil erosion, leading to water conservation and increased rainfall.

As household managers in rural and urban areas of the developing world, women are the first to encounter the effects of ecological stress.

As household managers in rural and urban areas of the developing world, women are the first to encounter the effects of ecological stress.

As household managers in rural and urban areas of the developing world, women are the first to encounter the effects of ecological stress.

My idea evolved into the Green Belt Movement, made up of thousands of groups, primarily of women, who have planted 30 million trees across Kenya.

The women are paid a small amount for each seedling they grow, giving them an income as well as improving their environment.

Through this work, I came to see that environmental degradation by poor communities was both a source of their problems and a symptom.

Growing crops on steep mountain slopes leads to loss of topsoil and land deterioration.

In the 1970's and 1980's, 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 by illegally selling off land and trees to well-connected developers.

In the early 1990's, the livelihoods, the rights and even the lives of many Kenyans in the Rift Valley were lost when elements of President Daniel arap Moi's government encouraged ethnic communities to attack one another over land.

In time, the Green Belt Movement became a leading advocate of reintroducing multiparty democracy and free and fair elections in Kenya.

Land issues in Kenya are complex and easily exploited by politicians.

Land issues in Kenya are complex and easily exploited by politicians.

In time, the Green Belt Movement became a leading advocate of reintroducing multiparty democracy and free and fair elections in Kenya.

Through public education, political advocacy and protests, we also sought to protect open spaces and forests from unscrupulous developers, who were often working hand in hand with politicians, through public education, political advocacy and protests.

Through public education, political advocacy and protests, we also sought to protect open spaces and forests from unscrupulous developers, who were often working hand in hand with politicians, through public education, political advocacy and protests.

Mr. Moi's government strongly opposed advocates for democracy and environmental rights; harassment, beatings, death threats and jail time followed, for me and for many others.

The committee, I believe, is seeking to encourage community efforts to restore the earth at a time when we face the ecological crises of deforestation, desertification, water scarcity and a lack of biological diversity.

It has been growth at all costs, resulting in widespread environmental degradation.

Indonesia has long been listed among the world's most corrupt societies.