Betty Obbo’s environmental activism in Uganda began with trees. She remembered growing up among lots of trees, but they had disappeared—chopped down for firewood and not replaced. So Obbo started planting trees. First she planted indigenous trees—Acacia Africans—and then pines. Soon Obbo had several acres of trees back again, trees that were sustainably harvested (and replanted) to keep a lot of families afloat financially. 

This practical environmentalist moved on to working for International Rivers, becoming for 18 years a loud voice against the power of the World Bank and her own government in their drive to build a dam on the Nile. 

Again and again, Obbo spoke out, warning that the dam would destroy a stretch of falls that brought tourists to Uganda, that the power generated would not benefit Ugandans, that the costs of the dam were outrageously high for a poor nation to sustain. 

She failed; the dam was built. And she was right; all her predictions have come true. 

Obbo continues to be practical, working to get people to understand that a healthy environment is not an enemy of economic development. Replanting trees, as she did years ago, makes both good economic sense and good environmental sense. Protecting the Nile, using it respectfully, can contribute to the economy, not detract from it. 

“Oftentimes,” she says, “people pit one need against another as they use rivers and lakes to meet their needs.” Obbo is determined to help people see, for example, that the pollution of rivers does not have to be a by-product of modern agriculture, and that the overuse of water does not have to be a by-product of industry. She continually identifies ways for citizens—and communities—to file grievances when their properties are destroyed by development projects.

Betty Obbo’s goal remains to help the economy as well as the environment with “pro-people options that are affordable and able to propel development in Africa.” 

She’s not naïve about what she’s up against – enormous opposition from corporations, governments, and global entities like the World Bank. They’ve defeated her before, so she knows what’s necessary to keep going. 

“Collective gains come through huge personal dedication and sometimes at the price of personal sacrifice.”