A participant at the conference narrated the story of two doctors who were walking by a river. They saw a man floating down the river. One of them rushed in, dragged him out, and immediately gave him first aid. As he had finished doing so, along came another man floating. He was also dragged out and given first aid. And the process was repeated again and again. The first doctor decided to set up a clinic at the spot. The second decided to go upstream to find out what was pushing people into the river. He was an environmentalist. Rather than go in for symptomatic treatment he wanted to tackle problems at the source.

What is needed today is a community of environmentalists willing to tackle problems at the source. Unless communities become disciplined and manage their environment in a sustainable manner the environment is bound to degrade.