Remarkable Story of Wangari Maathai's Environmental Impact
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The chances are that you have never heard of her, but she was a trailblazer who spearheaded a profound movement around a simple idea. And won a Nobel Peace Prize.
Almost 50 years ago, Wangari Maathai started empowering rural communities in Kenya, specifically women, to plant trees - 51 million of them thus far, restoring around 15,500 square miles of territory - which is roughly equivalent to the size of Switzerland or the Netherlands.
Way back in 1977, she founded the nonprofit Green Belt Movement in response to the needs of women who reported that streams were drying up, food was becoming more scarce, and they had to travel long distances to get firewood. Rather than waiting for government aid, she trained women to plant trees themselves, which not only made their lives easier but also helped combat soil erosion and deforestation.
Despite coming up against fierce resistance from the government, the program grew into a nationwide effort that provides women with a small stipend in return for planting trees, allowing them to build economic independence - and something deeper. As Maathai wrote in her 2006 memoir, Unbowed, “Trees are living symbols of peace and hope. A tree has roots in the soil yet reaches to the sky.”
Her bio on the Nelson Mandela Foundation website describes Maathai as being "internationally acknowledged for her struggle for democracy, human rights, and environmental conservation, and that she served on the board of many organisations. She addressed the UN on a number of occasions and spoke on behalf of women at special sessions of the General Assembly during the five-year review of the Earth Summit. She served on the Commission for Global Governance and the Commission on the Future."
Maathai was one of six individuals worldwide to be honoured with the Goldman Environmental Prize in 1991. In 2004, Maathai became the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize “for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace.”
Though she died in 2011, her legacy remains rooted in her books, the nonprofit, and, of course, the millions of trees growing across Kenya.
As she once said: “Until you dig a hole, you plant a tree, you water it, and make it survive, you haven’t done a thing. You’re just talking.”