JNF’s Kenyan guest inspired by Israel
 
PETER KOHN
THE ability of “tree power” to reach across cultures brought Kenyan environmentalist and biologist Dr Wangari Maathai to Melbourne where she addressed the annual Jewish National Fund (JNF) gala dinner this week.
Dr Maathai, the keynote speaker, told about 800 guests at the Crown Palladium on Sunday night that her Green Belt movement, which has planted more than 30,000 trees in Kenya, was inspired by Israel’s extensive forestation programs.
She first saw Israel’s tree-planting initiatives when she was in the country 35 years ago at a science conference and saw trees planted in the most inhospitable of environments.¬†”After that, I said no-one will ever tell me it can’t be done,” she explained.
Inspired by Israel’s forests, Dr Maathai initiated an environmental program in Kenya, which saw thousands of trees planted on large tracts of land and provided incomes for poverty-ravaged women employed as planters.¬†The Green Belt movement later moved on to campaign to liberalise Kenya’s legal system. “The movement became a democratic campaign,” she said.
Dr Maathai, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004, noted that many of Africa’s conflicts had arisen from tensions over scarce resources, and she said that was a global lesson. “There are close ties between governance, resources and peace.”
Yael Dayan, who chairs the Tel Aviv municipality, also spoke at the event. She spoke of her city, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.¬†Reflecting on Israel’s six decades, Dayan daughter of iconic Israeli politician, the late Moshe Dayan said that in the state’s 61st year, Israelis “are not talking merely about survival, but about the quality of the survival” and about “justice, values, education”.
“We have water problems … and few natural resources. We need to compensate for these resources with human resources such as education”, she said, adding that a challenge in Israel was to make education multicultural.¬†JNF federal president-elect Grahame Leonard, who will succeed Ron Ferster, paid tribute to the evening’s special guest, Dame Elisabeth Murdoch.
On stage, the 100-year-old was honoured by JNF for her contributions to philanthropy and the environment and she accepted the symbolic gift of 120 trees planted in her honour in Israel.¬†To a standing ovation, Dame Elisabeth told guests that despite the conflicts in the region, Israel had a rich artistic and cultural life.¬†”I’m so happy there’s a wider understanding of Israel in the world,” she said.
 
Photo:  Kenyan environmentalist Dr Wangari Maathai addresses the JNF gala dinner in Melbourne on June 7. 
Photo by: Peter Haskin
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