NEW DELHI: "Water is a resource over which we are going to wage wars," warned Nobel laureate Wangari Muta Maathai delivering the Eighth Rajiv Gandhi Memorial Lecture in the capital on Wednesday. Highlighting the strong link between environment, governance and peace, Prof. Maathai said, "When communities start to scramble for limited resources conflicts begin."

Asserting that peace and security of the planet depended on effective management and sharing of resources and equity, the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner said "access, control and distribution" of water, grazing land and other resources have been the cause of conflicts.

Delivering a lecture on `Environment, Democracy and Peace: A Critical Link', Prof. Maathai stressed the need for governance to be inclusive and responsive.

Drawing attention to the Green Belt Movement (GBM) she started, Prof. Maathai said it was meant to empower the citizen to take action. The campaign is an example of the involvement of people, especially women. "For every tree they planted and survived, the women got 10 U.S. cents with which they met the needs of food, clothes, utensils and school fees. Some built a home with the money," Prof. Maathai said. "The campaign that began with seven trees has now reached 40 million and is still counting," she added.

The GBM has now embarked on a campaign to plant a billion trees worldwide.

Stressing the urgency to save the planet, the Kenya-born environmentalist said, "We need forests, forests do not need human settlements. The world needs all the forests, wherever there are. Environment degrades slowly and one may not notice it. The generation that destroys the environment may not be the one that pays the price for it."

Touching upon the moral responsibility the present generation has towards protecting the rights of a generation that cannot speak for itself, Prof. Maathai called for visionary political leadership and corporate responsibility to face the challenge. In her welcome address, Chairperson of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation Sonia Gandhi said Prof. Maathai's GBM campaign was "not only an assertion of environmental rights, but a symbol of the struggle for democracy in Kenya".

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