News

Wangari Maathai, the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, urged Japan to take the lead in preserving the world's biodiversity in a speech Tuesday in Tokyo.

"I believe that Japan can again provide the kind of leadership that we need in protecting this aspect of diversity," the Kenyan environmental activist said at a symposium attended by legislators, while praising Japan for the leadership it demonstrated at a U.N. climate conference in Copenhagen in December.

The symposium, hosted by the Global Legislators Organization for a Balanced Environment and the Global Crop Diversity Trust, was held in view of the U.N.

Conference on biodiversity scheduled to be held in Nagoya in October.

Saying that local crop seeds have been disappearing due to globalization and commercialization, Maathai called for seeds to be saved from extinction and conserved for future generations. She also noted ongoing efforts to preserve seeds inside an international gene bank.

"If we don't protect what we have, you never know what the scientists of tomorrow will need" to allow people to produce crops that could not grow before, she said, adding, "That is why these diversities are important." She talked about her visit to a Kyoto temple where she learned the Japanese word "tomoiki," which refers to the concept of coexistence with nature, and said it is "something the world needs to learn." Maathai became widely known for adopting the Japanese word "mottainai" -- loosely meaning "You should save it" -- in trying to promote awareness of environmental protection among Japanese people.

She also visited Hiroshima and Kyoto before coming to Tokyo on her Japan visit this time. (Kyodo)