Alfred Nobel, in his will, gave us the mission to seek and find "those who during the preceding year have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind." In this spirit we honour you as a laureate of the Nobel Peace Prize.

In honouring you, however, we honour more - we honour the earth: For bringing forth flowers and food - and trees. And we honour you for rising to the struggle to overcome the forces which are destroying land and wasting trees - robbing the many who live and work on the soil of their livelihood. If we cannot overcome these forces, we cannot live - at least not in peace. The Norwegian Nobel Committee is committed to the protection of the earth. This commitment is our vision - deeply felt and connected to human rights and peace.

The Committee has debated trees. We have never done that before. And we have learnt something about trees and peace. And for that reason you are here, Wangari Mathai. Thirty million trees is the contribution of the Green Belt Movement - saving a part of this world, making it more beautiful and viable. Again and again I have been reminded of the well-known lines by Joyce Kilmer:

I think that I shall never see
a poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is pressed
Against the earth's sweet flowing breast.

A tree is a tree - beautiful, important, useful. In my childhood the teacher sent us out from school with a spade and small plants. He belonged to a generation who saw new wood land growing - making a greater mother land. Today these trees are tall and heavy. I greet them every summer - touching the bark. They shall live longer than me.

Trees are not only trees. They are mighty symbols in the creation myths of almost every culture. In Norse mythology the earth was created on the edge of an abyss into which mankind risked falling. But an enormous tree, Yggdrasil, crossed the abyss and embraced the earth with two enormous roots, keeping the world together: A cold root in the north and a warm root in the south: Could the warm root be the summer of Kenya and the cold one the winter of Norway?

The prize announcement in October concluded with the words that Wangari Maathai "represents an example and a source of inspiration for everyone in Africa fighting for sustainable development, democracy and peace." I feel now - after what we have experienced these last days through meeting you and learning from you - that there should have been one more clause added to that declaration: That you are "a source of inspiration - not only in Africa, but equally just as much here."

I cannot refrain from returning to the tales of Norse mythology: A thousand years ago a queen - her name was Ragnhild - dreamt that she held a twig in her hand. The twig touched the soil and became a tree, growing and growing with branches spreading out and covering the whole country - as a sign that small kingdoms should come together in unity and peace. We see you, Wangari Maathai, in queen Ragnhild's dream.

In an epoch where we destroy more and more of the Earth's soil, water and air in processes so difficult to control, In an epoch where transnational corporations burst through all barriers and carry off traditional seeds as loot or patents, In an epoch where representative democracy is under pressure - We are seeking for light, for the candles of hope:

We see you - we see women of Africa countering the evil forces, planting trees,
We see women of Asia creating a new livelihood through micro-credit,
And we see poor land workers of Latin America occupying the soil with the right of hunger.

We see the light, - we hope for the UN, we support international NGOs, we believe in dialogue at all levels - but the victories in the fields of hope depend upon human beings - creating their own lives - and dreaming their own visions: Democracy, human rights and development must be created from below - by people in social movements, by people planting trees, by women in Africa touching the soil with their hands and making it flourish.

You, Wangari Maathai, have been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize as the best candidate we could find. We know that this is not a retired person's prize. We hope that it will inspire you to new efforts. We have seen you in the struggle against dictatorship. We have seen you in the struggle to rescue the seeds of the smallholders in Africa against the mighty bio-pirates. We have seen you bringing Africa to the forefront in your deeds and words, in the conviction that another world is possible. And we have seen you planting trees.

I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as - thee.