Corneille Ewango Quotes

Corneille Ewango — Congolese Environmentalist

Corneille E.N. Ewango is a Congolese environmentalist, and was responsible for the Okapi Faunal Reserve's botany program in the Democratic Republic of Congo from 1996 to 2003. He was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2005 for his efforts to protect the Okapi Wildlife Reserve in the Ituri Rainforest during the Congo Civil War. The reserve is home to the Mbuti people, and houses animals such as okapis, elephants and 13 primate species. Ewango has uncovered 270 species of lianas and 600 tree species in the area... (wikipedia)

Around 17 to 20 years, I became, myself, a poacher. And I wanted to do it, because - I believed - to continue my studies. I wanted to go to university, but my father was poor, my uncle even. So, I did it. And for three to four years, I went to university. For three times, I applied to biomedical science, to be a doctor. I didn't succeed.

Building capacities for the young generation is going to make a better generation and a better future tomorrow for Africa.

I joined the Wildlife Conservation Society, working there, in 1995, but I started working with them as a student in 1991. I was appointed as a teaching assistant at my university because I accomplished with honor.

Discovering new species is a passion. A day without collecting plants is painful for me.

When I went to university, I decided that I would like to do something related to plant ecology, because I felt that plants were so beautiful. When I am studying plants, I feel like I am talking with some kind of supernatural life, like I am talking with someone who does not speak.

Corneille Ewango Quotes

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