A falling tree makes more noise than a forest that's growing

While typing I've been listening in the background to a French tv debate about Africa, triggered by recent events in Kenya. It's always interesting to listen to francophone perspectives from and on Africa - in this case looking particularly at progress in Sierra Leone and elsewhere but also potential serious future problems in Guinea Bissau and Guinea.The debate focussed on the fact that Africa is a diverse continent, with a diversity of political systems and problems and not a single entity.
One of the speakers said "A falling tree makes more noise than a forest that's growing" - an African saying apparently. Meaning that bad news makes the headlines but that strong signs of hope hardly even make the news. Meaning here that despite great cause for concern we shouldn't forget to tell the story of the forests of hope growing.