Speakers | World Congress of Agroforestry

	Achim Steiner is Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and former Director General of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), a highly influential and respected organization in the field of conservation, environment and natural resources management. As a Senior Policy Adviser of the IUCN Global Policy Unit in Washington D.C., he spearheaded the development of new partnerships between the environmental community and the World Bank and United Nations system. He has worked both at grassroots level as well as at the highest levels of international policy-making to address the interface between environmental sustainability, social equity and economic development. Quotes: “Including the value of natural resources and our social capital in national accounting is a vital step to achieving economic growth that is equitable and sustainable." “The challenge now is not whether climate change is happening or whether it should be addressed. The challenge now is to bring over 190 nations together in common cause. The prize is not just a reduction in emissions of greenhouse gases, it is a comprehensive re-engagement with core objectives and principles of sustainable development." "Farming carbon alongside farming crops is just one of the tantalizing prospects emerging as a result of the world's urgent need to combat climate change."
	Rajendra K. Pachauri has served as the chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) since 2002. Pachauri is the Director General of The Energy and Resources Institute in New Delhi, an institution devoted to researching and promoting sustainable development, and is also the chancellor of TERI University. He is also the chairman, governing council of the National Agro Foundation (NAF). He was recently awarded the second-highest civilian award in India, the Padma Vibhushan in January 2008 as well as the Padma Bhushan in January 2001. On December 10, 2007, Dr. Pachauri accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the IPCC, along with former Vice President of the USA, Al Gore. Dr Pachauri’s wide-ranging expertise has resulted in his membership of various international and national committees and boards. Quotes: “The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has estimated that direct emissions from meat production account for about 18% of the world’s total greenhouse gas emissions. So I want to highlight the fact that among options for mitigating climate change, changing diets is something one should consider".> “Recent developments have made green fuels economically attractive in view of the resource potential of this option and the environmental benefits associated with it, along with employment generation and empowerment of the rural population".
	M. S. Swaminathan is known as the "Father of the Green Revolution in India", for his leadership and success in introducing and further developing high-yielding varieties of wheat in India. He is the founder and Chairman of the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation. His vision is to rid the world of hunger and poverty. Dr. Swaminathan is an advocate of moving India to sustainable development, especially using environmentally sustainable agriculture, sustainable food security and the preservation of biodiversity, which he calls an "evergreen revolution". Dr. Swaminathan has worked worldwide in collaboration with colleagues and students on a wide range of problems in basic and applied plant breeding, agricultural research and development and the conservation of natural resources. Quotes: “There is a need to introduce the concept of group farming among small and medium farmers in order to help achieve economies of scale and production. Group farming would ensure equity in water and resource sharing and thereby lead to high productivity at low resources. However, such forms of contract or group farming should not be exploitative in nature."
	Wangari Maathai is an environmental and political activist. Wangari Maathai is internationally recognized for her persistent struggle for democracy, human rights and environmental conservation. She has addressed the UN on several occasions and spoke on behalf of women at special sessions of the General Assembly for the five-year review of the earth summit. She introduced the idea of planting trees with the people in 1976 in order to conserve the environment and improve their quality of life. However, through the Green Belt Movement she has assisted women in planting more than 20 million trees on their farms and on schools and church compounds. In 2004 she became the first African woman, and the first environmentalist, to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for “her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace." Quotes: “You must not deal only with the symptoms. You have to get to the root causes by promoting environmental rehabilitation and empowering people to do things for themselves. What is done for the people without involving them cannot be sustained". “When you have the environment degraded, it is always so that we are going to fight over the few resources that are left". “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". "It is the people who must save the environment. It is the people who must make their leaders change. And we cannot be intimidated. So we must stand up for what we believe in."
	Richard Leakey won fame as a paleoanthropologist while still in his early twenties, with sensational discoveries of the fossil remains of our most ancient ancestors, but his subsequent career as an author, conservationist, government official and political activist of unyielding courage has been even more extraordinary. As Director of Kenya's National Wildlife Service, he led a successful campaign against poaching of the endangered African elephant. He won election to parliament, where he forced reform of Kenya's constitution. As a government official, he continued his campaign against corruption in the civil service and secured a resumption of international aid. Quotes: “As we sit today, it is important to remember we are talking about the future of a member of our family, not a strange creature that lives in the jungle." "The planet will survive ... It’s our species and other species who are in danger." "In the area of species protection, we should concern ourselves with what is right as opposed to what might be easier, or popular, in the short term." “Preserving pasture, forests and species was very much a part of the culture and practice of many traditional societies. It is certainly not 'western' or 'European' to appreciate nature; it is a human value that is expressed world wide."