For centuries, thousands of families have depended on the wetland for clean water, fishing, grazing and agricultural land, and the papyrus that they weave into mats, baskets and thatch roofs.

“We worked hard growing maize and bananas, raising cows and bees. I inherited my farm from my father and my forefathers. I have lived here all my life,” “One day I saw surveyors taking measurements on my land, then came the bulldozers. They slashed all my crops and they fenced me out of the lake where we used to fish. They built a dam and now the reservoir has submerged all my land, my beasts, my houses.

When I protested to my MP (Member of Parliament), he said I should take the money and move away. I will not take their money. I want my home back.

Eventually the world will no longer be divided by the ideologies of ‘left’ and ‘right’ but by those who accept ecological limits and those who don’t.

Having to squeeze the last drop of utility out of the land has the same desperate finality as having to chop up the furniture to keep warm.

We are cutting out our kidneys to enlarge our stomachs.

Man shapes himself through the decisions that shape his environment.