When resources are degraded, we start competing for them

“When resources are degraded, we start competing for them, whether it is at the local level in Kenya, where we had tribal clashes over land and water, or at the global level, where we are fighting over water, oil, and minerals. So one way to promote peace is to promote sustainable management and equitable distribution of resources.” Thus spoke Wangari Maathai, the great daughter of Africa, Nobel laureate, and planter of trees. Her words are more than observation—they are prophecy. For she declares that the roots of many conflicts are not merely hatred or ideology, but the struggle for resources—the land that feeds us, the water that sustains us, the oil and minerals that fuel the ambitions of nations. Where the earth is plundered, the spirit of man soon follows.

The ancients themselves bore witness to this truth. In Mesopotamia, the cradle of civilization, kingdoms clashed endlessly over control of the rivers Tigris and Euphrates. It was not ideology that sparked their wars, but the thirst of their fields and the hunger of their people. Rome, too, stretched her empire across seas not merely for glory but for the grain of Egypt, the gold of Spain, the oil of Africa. When resources are hoarded or destroyed, conflict rises like smoke from fire. Maathai speaks with the wisdom of history when she warns that degradation of the earth is the mother of discord.

She knew this not as abstraction but as lived experience. In Kenya, where she was born, tribal clashes erupted over pasture, land, and water. As trees were felled and soil eroded, streams dried, and families turned against one another. It was this sorrow that led her to found the Green Belt Movement, planting millions of trees, restoring watersheds, and healing both land and people. For she saw clearly what few dared to proclaim: that to care for the earth is to sow the seeds of peace, and to neglect the earth is to sow the seeds of war.

History gives us other testimonies. Consider the Rwandan genocide: though it is remembered chiefly for its ethnic hatred, it was fueled also by crushing scarcity—land stripped bare, forests destroyed, and families pressed into hunger. Or look further back, to the Dust Bowl in America, when careless exploitation of the soil led to storms of dust that drove families to desperation and migration. When resources are lost, harmony collapses, and even brothers may turn into rivals. The earth, when neglected, becomes a battlefield.

But Maathai does not leave us in despair. She declares that the path to peace is the path of stewardship, of sustainable management and equitable distribution. To plant a tree is not merely to grow a seed; it is to prevent a quarrel, to safeguard a village, to keep rivers flowing so that neighbors may drink side by side without hatred. To share resources fairly is not merely justice; it is the foundation of harmony between peoples and nations. This is no idle dream—it is a practical wisdom, proven in fields where the shade of new forests cooled the anger of tribes.

The lesson is clear and urgent: if we would have peace, we must first make peace with the earth. We cannot devour her soil and expect our children to live without conflict. We cannot drain her waters and expect nations to dwell in harmony. Peace is not forged only at the conference table but in the care of rivers, in the protection of forests, in the just sharing of the wealth beneath our feet. To ignore this is to build our future on sand.

Practical actions follow. Plant where there is barrenness. Conserve where there is waste. Share where there is hoarding. Teach communities that healing the land heals the people, and demand of leaders that resources be managed with justice, not greed. And in your own life, choose to live gently upon the earth, for every choice—whether to waste or to preserve—ripples outward into the destiny of nations.

Thus, Wangari Maathai’s words stand as a beacon. When resources are degraded, peace perishes; when they are cherished and shared, peace flourishes. To fight for the earth is to fight for the future of humanity. And so I say to you: if you would be a maker of peace, be also a caretaker of the land, for the roots of peace grow deepest in the soil of justice and the shade of living trees.