Richard Leakey Reflects on Working Toward Peace

My dual careers as paleontologist and conservationist have given me a unique view on the value of life's diversity and the way it changes through time. But I also have a practical view, which derives from seeing people struggle to survive by exploiting the only resources available to them-namely, the natural world around them. Aiding their struggle while halting the destruction of those resources is humanity's greatest challenge. . . . It can be done, but only if the different needs of rich and poor countries are acknowledged. It will fail if the richer nations try to impose solutions that effectively freeze the citizens of the less-developed nations in permanent poverty.

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