110+ Wangari Maathai Quotes On Nature, Environment And Trees

Wangari Maathai was a Kenyan environmental and political activist. She was the first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace. Maathai was a vocal advocate for environmental conservation and women's rights, and was the founder of the Green Belt Movement. Following is our collection on famous quotes by Wangari Maathai on nature, environment, trees.

Top 10 Wangari Maathai Quotes

1. You can make a lot of speeches, but the real thing is when you dig a hole, plant a tree, give it water, and make it survive. That's what makes the difference
2. You cannot protect the environment unless you empower people, you inform them, and you help them understand that these resources are their own, that they must protect them.
3. When we plant trees, we plant the seeds of peace and seeds of hope.
4. Every person who has ever achieved anything has been knocked down many times. But all of them picked themselves up and kept going, and that is what I have always tried to do.
5. African women in general need to know that it's OK for them to be the way they are - to see the way they are as a strength, and to be liberated from fear and from silence.
6. We cannot tire or give up. We owe it to the present and future generations of all species to rise up and walk!
7. There are opportunities even in the most difficult moments.
8. Sometimes we become bound by other people's thoughts because we are not sure about ourselves.
9. Those of us who have been privileged to receive education, skills, and experiences and even power must be role models for the next generation of leadership.
10. It is important to nurture any new ideas and initiatives which can make a difference for Africa.

Wangari Maathai Short Quotes

• Women are responsible for their children, they cannot sit back, waste time and see them starve.
• Nobody in the world is completely dependent on another person, but we are all interdependent.
• No matter who or where we are, or what our capabilities, we are called to do the best we can.
• When you know who you are you are free.
• You cannot enslave a mind that knows itself. That values itself. That understands itself.
• We can love ourselves by loving the earth.
• We all share one planet and are one hummanity, there is no escaping this reality.
• Culture is coded wisdom

Wangari Maathai Quotes About Nature

The American government has spent a lot of money trying to reclaim, for example, the Everglades, and to allow the natural vegetation at the coastal areas to be restored because that was part of the vegetation that actually protected the hinterlands. — Wangari Maathai

Culture defines who we are and how we see ourselves. A new attitude toward nature provides space for a new attitude toward culture and the role it plays in sustainable development — Wangari Maathai

The planet needs trees. If there is indeed that carbon dioxide out there in the atmosphere, the only species on the planet that can actually trap it for us in a natural process of photosynthesis are the trees. — Wangari Maathai

Wangari Maathai Quotes About Environment

I am working to make sure we don't only protect the environment, we also improve governance. — Wangari Maathai

The living conditions of the poor must be improved if we really want to save our environment — Wangari Maathai

It gradually became clear that the Green Belt Movement's work with communities to repair the degraded environment could not be done effectively without participants embracing a set of core spiritual values. — Wangari Maathai

The essential role of the environment is still marginal in discussions about poverty. While we continue to debate these initiatives, environmental degradation, including the loss of biodiversity and topsoil, accelerates, causing development efforts to falter. — Wangari Maathai

The women of the Green Belt Movement have learned about the causes and the symptoms of environmental degradation. They have begun to appreciate that they, rather than their government, ought to be the custodians of the environment. — Wangari Maathai

We tend to put the environment last because we think the first thing we have to do is eliminate poverty. But you can't reduce poverty in a vacuum. You are doing it in an environment. — Wangari Maathai

We owe it to ourselves and to the next generation to conserve the environment so that we can bequeath our children a sustainable world that benefits all. — Wangari Maathai

We refuse to share resources; we govern irresponsibly. If we are confident, if we have some of our cultural values, then we would be more committed to assisting our people out of poverty and creating an environment that can make it possible for our friends to assist us. — Wangari Maathai

You can't reduce poverty in a vacuum. You are doing it in an environment. — Wangari Maathai

Quite often when you help poor people, they don't think about the environment. They think about survival. — Wangari Maathai

Wangari Maathai Quotes About Trees

When I first started, it was really an innocent response to the needs of women in rural areas. When we started planting trees to meet their needs, there was nothing beyond that. I did not see all the issues that I have to come to deal with. — Wangari Maathai

Anybody can dig a hole and plant a tree. But make sure it survives. You have to nurture it, you have to water it, you have to keep at it until it becomes rooted so it can take care or itself. There are so many enemies of trees. — Wangari Maathai

That's the way I do things when I want to celebrate, I always plant a tree. — Wangari Maathai

There's a general culture in this country to cut all the trees. It makes me so angry because everyone is cutting and no one is planting. — Wangari Maathai

That's the way I do things when I want to celebrate, I always plant a tree. And so I got an indigenous tree, called Nandi flame, it has this beautiful red flowers. When it is in flower it is like it is in flame. — Wangari Maathai

For me, one of the major reasons to move beyond just the planting of trees was that I have tendency to look at the causes of a problem. We often preoccupy ourselves with the symptoms, whereas if we went to the root cause of the problems, we would be able to overcome the problems once and for all. — Wangari Maathai

What a friend we have in a tree, the tree is the symbol of hope, self improvement and what people can do for themselves. — Wangari Maathai

Wangari Maathai Quotes About Education

It was easy for me to be ridiculed and for both men and women to perceive that maybe I'm a bit crazy because I'm educated in the West and I have lost some of my basic decency as an African woman. — Wangari Maathai

Yet now the industrialized world is moving away from fossil fuels and moving towards renewable sources of energy. And because we have not invested so much into education, we don't have the technology and sometimes we don't even have the capital to buy this technology. — Wangari Maathai

What is really important is to educate people how to protect themselves and how to ensure that, despite their poverty, they can get tested and access drugs. So I just hope that those who can will make those drugs available. — Wangari Maathai

Education of course is a very empowering experience, so many people who went to school also managed to improve their quality of life much faster because they could get a job, they could get money, and with money you could buy things that you cannot buy if you don't have money. — Wangari Maathai

You cannot blame the mismanagement of the economy or the fact that we have not invested adequately in education in order to give our people the knowledge, the skills and the technology that they need in order to be able to use the resources that Africa has to gain wealth. — Wangari Maathai

Once people see that you improve you life if you are educated, then education becomes a valuable tool and people want it. — Wangari Maathai

The people are starving. They need food; they need medicine; they need education. They do not need a skyscraper to house the ruling party and a 24-hour TV station. — Wangari Maathai

Wangari Maathai Quotes About People

The little grassroots people can change this world. — Wangari Maathai

For us who are now in power, we need to be challenged to serve the people and ignore our own egos and personal interests so that we can really demonstrate to other African states that it is possible to share power without going to war. — Wangari Maathai

The issue of carbon is one area where we really need to work together and if people don't have the technology they need, that technology needs to be made available and affordable. — Wangari Maathai

The people are learning that you cannot leave decisions only to leaders. Local groups have to create the political will for change, rather than waiting for others to do things for them. That is where positive, and sustainable, change begins. — Wangari Maathai

We do the right thing not to please people but because it's the only logically reasonable thing to do, as long as we are being honest with ourselves - even if we are the only ones. — Wangari Maathai

I knew that I was not doing anything wrong, and I knew in my mind I was doing the right thing. I knew that the people who were going against me were not going against me for a good purpose. I knew that they were trying to justify their corruption and misgovernance. — Wangari Maathai

When people can't use you, they ridicule what you represent. I was lucky that I understood that, because when one does not understand that, it is very easy to be broken and to be subdued. — Wangari Maathai

Do not be naive. AIDS is not a curse from God to Africans or the black people. It is a tool to control them designed by some evil-minded scientists, but we may not know who particularly did it. — Wangari Maathai

I'm sure that many people who are involved in an environmental effort ... they will be pretty much encouraged by this recognition. — Wangari Maathai

There will always be people who think that you have ambitions. — Wangari Maathai

Wangari Maathai Quotes About Africa

Disempowerment - whether defined in terms of a lack of self-confidence , apathy, fear, or an inability to take charge of one's own life - is perhaps the most unrecognised problem in Africa today. — Wangari Maathai

The developed world should be willing to help [Africa] and support her and make this energy affordable. — Wangari Maathai

Obviously the world is moving away from high carbon energy to low carbon energy, and eventually moving away toward renewable energy. So it is in the interest of Africa to move towards that, because that's where the world is moving. — Wangari Maathai

I don't believe [Africa] is ready to shift - and she needs to shift. So she needs to get the technology and she can only get that technology from the developed world. — Wangari Maathai

Wangari Maathai Famous Quotes And Sayings

We’re constantly being bombarded by problems that we face and sometimes we can get completely overwhelmed. [But] we should always feel like a hummingbird. I may feel insignificant, but I don’t want to be like the other animals watching the planet go down the drain. I’ll be a hummingbird, I’ll do the best I can. — Wangari Maathai

We are called to assist the Earth to heal her wounds and in the process heal our own - indeed, to embrace the whole creation in all its diversity, beauty and wonder. This will happen if we see the need to revive our sense of belonging to a larger family of life, with which we have shared our evolutionary process. — Wangari Maathai

All of us have a God in us, and that God is the spirit that unites all life, everything that is on this planet. It must be this voice that is telling me to do something, and I am sure it's the same voice that is speaking to everybody on this planet - at least everybody who seems to be concerned about the fate of the world, the fate of this planet. — Wangari Maathai

Those of us who witness the degraded state of the environment and the suffering that comes with it cannot afford to be complacent. We continue to be restless. If we really carry the burden, we are driven to action. 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

Education is a very empowering experience, so many people who went to school also managed to improve their quality of life much faster because they could get a job, they could get money. Once people see that you improve your life if you are educated, then education becomes a valuable tool and people want it. — Wangari Maathai

If you make mistakes that is alright because we all make mistakes and we learn from those mistakes. You gain confidence from learning, failing and rising again. — Wangari Maathai

But when you have bad governance, of course, these resources are destroyed: The forests are deforested, there is illegal logging, there is soil erosion. I got pulled deeper and deeper and saw how these issues become linked to governance, to corruption, to dictatorship. — Wangari Maathai

Because I was a woman, I was vulnerable. It was easy to vilify me and project me as a woman who was not following the tradition of a 'good African woman.' — Wangari Maathai

Tradition sometimes excludes the girl child from inheriting; or single women may not want to be perceived as pursuing too much property. The law has come a long way in favor of the woman, but it is the tradition, the attitudes, that we often have to fight. — Wangari Maathai

Some say that AIDS came from the monkeys, and I doubt that because we have been living with monkeys from time immemorial, others say it was a curse from God, but I say it cannot be that. — Wangari Maathai

We can work together for a better world with men and women of goodwill, those who radiate the intrinsic goodness of humankind. — Wangari Maathai

When you think of all the conflicts we have - whether those conflicts are local, whether they are regional or global - these conflicts are often over the management, the distribution of resources. If these resources are very valuable, if these resources are scarce, if these resources are degraded, there is going to be competition. — Wangari Maathai

We have a responsibility to protect the rights of generations, of all species, that cannot speak for themselves today. The global challenge of climate change requires that we ask no less of our leaders, or ourselves. — Wangari Maathai

There are certain areas where foreign investors can help the local people to generate wealth, and improve their quality of life. Some companies, for example, Del Monte, which produces pineapples in Kenya, pay a huge amount of taxes, I am sure, to the Kenyan government, and they do create jobs for thousands of locals. — Wangari Maathai

It is wonderful when you don't have the fear, and a lot of the time I don't ... I focus on what needs to be done instead. — Wangari Maathai

We think that diamonds are very important, gold is very important, all these minerals are very important. We call them precious minerals, but they are all forms of the soil. But that part of this mineral that is on top, like it is the skin of the earth, that is the most precious of the commons. — Wangari Maathai

So GMOs, who knows? Maybe GMOs will come, they will get maize that produces double. But who knows what else may happen to the maize? — Wangari Maathai

Resources on the planet are limited, and limited resources can come to an end. But there are also a lot of resources that are renewable. A lot of land, for example, can be reclaimed from the encroaching deserts. — Wangari Maathai

It was easy to persecute me without people feeling ashamed. It was easy to vilify me and project me as a woman who was not following the tradition of a 'good African woman' and as a highly educated elitist who was trying to show innocent African women ways of doing things that were not acceptable to African men. — Wangari Maathai

Why has there been so much secrecy about AIDS? When you ask where did the virus come from, it raises a lot of flags. That makes me suspicious. — Wangari Maathai

All of us have a God in us, and that God is the spirit that unites all life, everything that is on this planet. — Wangari Maathai

I'm sure the government of Qatar is not coming in to grow food for the people of Kenya; it's coming to grow food to sell. If it can also sell to the people of Kenya, well, then good. I think that the moves can be helpful, but I think that the history that Africa knows, as I say in my book, has been a history of exploitation. — Wangari Maathai

And so I'm saying that, yes, colonialism was terrible, and I describe it as a legacy of wars, but we ought to be moving away from that by now. — Wangari Maathai

Nile perch is a fish that was introduced into Lake Victoria. The reason that fish was introduced into Lake Victoria was because it was decided that the people living near the lake needed more proteins than they were getting. — Wangari Maathai

Unfortunately, the issues of climate change, unlike many other issues, are very subtle because the changes we observe are very, very subtle. — Wangari Maathai

Using trees as a symbol of peace is in keeping with a widespread African tradition. For example, the elders of the Kikuyu carried a staff from the thigi tree that, when placed between two disputing sides, caused them to stop fighting and seek reconciliation. Many communities in Africa have these traditions. — Wangari Maathai

People need open space. People need to bring their children into an area where they can play without restriction." And I was told, "This is development." And I said, "That is not development, definitely not sustainable development, definitely not responsible development. People need fresh air. They can do without buildings. They can do without concrete. But they cannot do without fresh air. — Wangari Maathai

All through the ages the African people have made efforts to deliver themselves from oppressive forces. — Wangari Maathai

First of all, farmers should work with universities and research institutions in the country, and hopefully with the government. — Wangari Maathai

I would like to call on young people to commit themselves to activities that contribute toward achieving their long-term dreams. They have the energy and creativity to shape a sustainable future. To the young people I say, you are a gift to your communities and indeed the world. You are our hope and our future. — Wangari Maathai

In the course of history, there comes a time when humanity is called to shift to a new level of consciousness, to reach a higher moral ground. A time when we have to shed our fear and give hope to each other. That time is now. — Wangari Maathai

It would be good for us Africans to accept ourselves as we are and recapture some of the positive aspects of our culture. — Wangari Maathai

We tend to put the environment last because we think the first thing we have to do is eliminate poverty and send children to school and provide health. — Wangari Maathai

I think some of these solutions are prepared in an office without a full understanding of the local situation. — Wangari Maathai

One of the reasons why I say we all need to work together to save the Congo forest, because if we don't save the Congo forest, the Amazon forest and the southeast Asia forest, if those forests release the carbon they are trapping at the moment, much of what you will be doing in the North will be negated by the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere. — Wangari Maathai

I think [GMO] is one area where the is a need for legal regulations to make sure that companies - because at the moment, companies are the ones that have this technology - will not use this technology in a way that could adversely affect the people. — Wangari Maathai

Human rights are not things that are put on the table for people to enjoy. These are things you fight for and then you protect. — Wangari Maathai

As long as there is no trust and confidence that there will be justice and fairness in resource distribution, political positioning will remain more important than service — Wangari Maathai

One of the reasons why we started the Green Belt Movement is to work with these ordinary peasant farmers so as to educate them that, despite the fact that they are poor, it is in their interest to protect the soil that they have, to protect the forest they have, to protect the land that they have, because if they don't do it, things can be only worse tomorrow for them for them and for their children. — Wangari Maathai

I stand before you and the world humbled by this recognition and uplifted by the honour of being the 2004 Nobel Peace Laureate. As the first African woman to receive this prize, I accept it on behalf of the people of Kenya and Africa, and indeed the world. I am especially mindful of women and the girl child. I hope it will encourage them to raise their voices and take more space for leadership. — Wangari Maathai

Having studied biology really helped me a lot because I quickly understand how biological systems work, and how they fail, and the tragedy of when they fail, because we are dealing with life systems, and when we hear that a species has become extinct, or is threatened, you realize that this could mean that this species will disappear from the face of the earth forever! So that understanding really gives you energy to do something to save it. — Wangari Maathai

I want to do the right things - I want to plant trees, I want to make sure that the indigenous forests are protected because I know, whatever happens, these are the forests that contain biodiversity, these are the forests that help us retain water when it rains and keep our rivers flowing, these are the forests that many future generations will need. — Wangari Maathai

I was particularly talking with respect to aid, because that to me is one area that can make people so dependent, and unfortunately, that dependency starts with the government. — Wangari Maathai

There is no reason why a company like Monsanto, for example, that is pushing GMOs, cannot go to Kenya, partner with the university, partner with the research institutions, and try to promote - in a responsible way - advanced techniques to help farmers. But this should be done in such a way that the farmers' livelihoods are not undermined because the government is irresponsible or careless, or because it is compromised. — Wangari Maathai

As I swept the last bit of dust, I made a covenant with myself: I will accept. Whatever will be, will be. I have a life to lead. I recalled words a friend had told me, the philosophy of her faith. "Life is a journey and a struggle," she had said. "We cannot control it, but we can make the best of any situation." I was indeed in quite a situation. It was up to me to make the best of it. — Wangari Maathai

For me planting a tree is a very doable thing. It's not complicated, it doesn't require technology, it doesn't require much knowledge, but it can be a very important entry point into communities understanding how they destroy their own resources, but how they can also restore those resources, and not wait for their government or international agencies to come and help them. — Wangari Maathai

What people see as fearlessness is really persistence. Because I am focused on the solution, I don't see the danger. — Wangari Maathai

It's very important to remain optimistic and to see the silver lining in everything you do. Because no matter how sometimes things look difficult, and look like there is no hope, there is always a small glimmering of silver lining that is in everything, and I always look for that, and hang on that, and before I know it, another day comes and is gone. — Wangari Maathai

Recognizing that sustainable development, democracy and peace are indivisible is an idea whose time has come... Today we are faced with a challenge that calls for a shift in our thinking, so that humanity stops threatening its life-support system. We are called to assist the Earth to heal her wounds and in the process heal our own - indeed, to embrace the whole of creation in all its diversity, beauty and wonder. — Wangari Maathai

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 also important, especially when you are dealing with food, to be cautious. — Wangari Maathai

Today with technological advancement, with the Internet, with planes, with the rate at which we travel - even if you wanted, you cannot hide from the rest of the world. And whether you like it or not, you are part of this global marketplace, and so you might as well understand it, you might as well embrace it, because even if you hide, it will find you. — Wangari Maathai

Passion begins with a burden and a split-second moment, when you understand something like never before. That burden is on those who know. Those who don't know are at peace. Those of us who do know get disturbed and are forced to take action. — Wangari Maathai

I think that for anybody who has worked in the civil society, government bureaucracy moves very very slowly. — Wangari Maathai

I definitely hope to relax when I get back hope. I will disappear into the forest and be rejuvenated by the beauty of the mountains. — Wangari Maathai

It is very important for young people not to be afraid of engaging in areas that are not common to the youth. Get involved in local activities, get involved in local initiatives, be involved in leadership positions because you can’t learn unless you are involved. And if you make mistakes that is alright too because we all make mistakes and we learn from those mistakes. You gain confidence from learning, failing and rising again. — Wangari Maathai

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 forests, she's going to continue burning charcoal, she is going to continue practicing agricultural activities that destroy the environment, and sooner or later Africa's problem will become a global problem. — Wangari Maathai

Every one of us can make a contribution. And quite often we are looking for the big things and forget that, wherever we are, we can make a contribution. Sometimes I tell myself, I may only be planting a tree here, but just imagine what's happening if there are billions of people out there doing something. Just imagine the power of what we can do. — Wangari Maathai

As long as we have all these conflicts, it is the women who will continue to suffer, so that is one reason why I guess as women we should really work for peace, because we know how painful wars can be to us and our daughters. — Wangari Maathai

Sometimes I feel frustration at the bureaucracy for not moving fast enough to deliver in the way that I would prefer. But that is probably because I have worked for many years in the civil society, which tends to move much faster than government. — Wangari Maathai

One of the reasons why I've written The Challenge for Africa is to save it. Surely there are so many problems we can solve in Africa, but first and foremost, we need a government that feels responsible to protect their own people from the exploitations, from the misuse, from the mistreatment that they can easily get. — Wangari Maathai

You have to know yourself, and that once you know yourself, then you cannot be bound by - because sometimes we are bound by other people's thoughts, because we are not sure about ourselves. But once you know yourself... I guess it is really an expression of the biblical statements that the truth will make you free! When you know, then you are free, your mind is free. — Wangari Maathai

The government of Qatar, as I mentioned, has proposed to come and lease Kenya's Tana River delta in order to farm there. What I am not sure of is, has an environmental impact assessment been made to ensure that exploiting this delta for agricultural activities is the best way we can use the delta?We must be concerned about the long-term impact of agricultural activities in the delta. — Wangari Maathai

It is evident that many wars are fought over resources which are now becoming increasingly scarce. If we conserved our resources better, fighting over them would not occur ... protecting the global environment is directly related to securing peace. Those of us who understand the complex concept of the environment have the burden to act. We must not tire, we must not give up, we must persist. — Wangari Maathai

Life Lessons by Wangari Maathai

1. Wangari Maathai's work demonstrates the power of individuals to make a difference in their communities. She showed that through her environmental activism and her work to empower women in her native Kenya.
2. Her legacy is a reminder that we all have the potential to create positive change, even when faced with seemingly insurmountable obstacles.
3. Her example is a reminder to us all that we can make a difference in the world, if we are willing to take action and fight for what we believe in.