News

In Memoriam of the ''Tree Lady" Wangari Maathai

26.09.2011

Kenyan social activist and environmental crusader, Wangari Maathai, passed away on 25 September in Kenya. She was the first African woman to win a Nobel Peace Prize. The Green Belt Movement, which she founded in 1977, has planted an estimated 45 million trees around Kenya to combat deforestation that often deepens poverty. Professor Maathai worked with women to improve their livelihoods by increasing their access to resources like firewood for cooking and clean water. She became a great advocate for better management of natural resources and for sustainability, equity, and justice. The 71-year-old is seen as a hero for her campaigns to stop deforestation around the capital, Nairobi and across Africa, where she pushed for trees to be planted by schools, church groups, government offices and ordinary citizens. She fought tirelessly against corrupt governments' attempts to grab land and tear down forests. In 2004, Prof Wangari Maathai was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for such work and her unique forms of brave action.