Bolivian President Evo Morales on Friday visited the Norwegian Sami parliament where he spoke of the need to protect "Mother Earth" on the final day of his three-day visit to Norway, according to dpa. He also touched on the conflict between stewardship of natural resources and their overexploitation. "Our way of life is to live in harmony with nature," said Morales, a member of Bolivia's Aymara indigenous community, in his speech at the Sami parliament in Karasjok, northern Norway. Morales in 2005 became Bolivia's first indigenous elected leader. He was re-elected in December. The Bolivian leader was the first foreign head of state to visit the Sami parliament. Norway is home to over half of the world's estimated 70,000 Sami people, formerly known as Lapps, who also live in Sweden, Finland and northern Russia. Sami leaders from Norway, including Sami parliament speaker Egil Olli, as well as Sweden and Finland were present. Morales said he planned to re-visit the Sami parliament after his term as president was over. The visit has included talks on development in Bolivia, tackling climate change and how Norway has channelled some of its oil and gas riches into a state pension fund.
