Suppose you are working for a TV channel and you are asked to interview wangari maathai about her movement and her achievements. Write an imaginary interview between you and wangari maathai.
Answers
Founder: Kenya's environmental Green Belt Movement.
Winner: 2004 Nobel Peace Prize.
Planted: 30 million trees in Kenya, one billion trees worldwide.
Helped: 100,000 Kenyan women, who are paid for planting trees.
Claim to Fame: Former dictator Daniel Arap Moi called her a "madwoman" for opposing his policies.
Believes: Environmental responsibility leads to peace and prosperity.
Current Obsession: Saving the Congo Basin forest, threatened by illegal logging, mining, and hunting.
News 24: The UN recommends that at least ten percent of a nation's land be forested, but Kenya's forests have shrunk to less than two percent. Are you making any significant progress in reversing that erosion?
Maathai: The situation has improved as awareness has risen. But so many people are poor, and they cut down forests as a source of energy and to grow crops.
News 24: How do you persuade people to plant trees?
Maathai: We tell them, If you don't take care of this land today, tomorrow you will have rocks, not soil. We teach them how to plant but also to work with others so there's a multiplier effect. We give them money for each tree that survives. That's a real incentive.
News 24: There's democracy of sorts in Kenya, thanks in part to your struggle, but there's still corruption and land-grabbing
Maathai: Corruption has infiltrated deep into society, so the guy at the bottom with nothing is hoping that corrupt leaders will come down and share a piece of the action. That's why we do civic education: to help people understand how corruption hurts themhow it makes them poorer, unable to send their children to school, unable to provide for themselves.
News 24: There was tribal conflict a few years ago in Kenya's Rift Valley. You tried to resolve it by planting trees
Maathai: When resources are degraded or become scarce, people compete over themand that usually ends in conflict. The problems of poverty, environmental degradation, and conflict are totally intertwined.
News 24: Was your strategy successful?
Maathai: Eventually. We try to make people understand why they fightthat it's really about lack of resources.
News 24: You've received a commitment of $100 million from the U.K. for the Congo Basin Forest Partnership, which you support
Maathai: Yes, and I'm hoping that Germany, Italy, and the United States will contribute. The basin plays an important role in absorbing carbon dioxide and providing the world with oxygen.
News 24: How can the travel industry help?
Maathai: By investing in the protection of forests.
News 24: Is corruption the biggest issue in the Congo Basin?
Maathai: There is corruption and competition for resources like precious minerals. There is legal and illegal logging. We need good governance in the region's ten countries because logging is facilitated by people in power. Poverty pushes people into the bush meat trade.
News 24: What can travelers do about poverty?
Maathai: First, the travel industry should fight corruption. You cannot do good business surrounded by poverty. We have a Green Belt Safari Program, which patronizes companies that hire local staff, purchase from local farmers, and donate a portion of the profits to support social projects. If we travelers patronize responsible businesses, then local people will benefit.
News 24: As an African activist, do you think celebrities exploit African causes for fame?
Maathai: No, they want to be useful, and that's great. But aid can encourage dependence. That's not the way to create responsible citizens.
Answer:
*Interview celebrity concerned with
environment*
Anchor: Hello everyone!! We have Doctor P. K. Singh who is environment minister on our show. Welcome sir.
Doctor: Hello!! Thank you so much.
Anchor: What are the issues relating to the environment?
Doctor: The pollution leads to the global warming which is harmful to our environment.
Anchor: What are the causes sir?
Doctor: Causes are the human activities mostly. Like creating pollution by vehicles combustion, burning non-biodegradable materials.
Anchor: What action should be taken to save the environment?
Doctor: One should not use plastic, start promoting car pooling.