A tribute to Wangari Mathai
-Marianne de Nazareth
(The month of July is Monsoon month for most areas in India and tree planting drives are in full swing in many places. It is also the right time to remember Wangari Mathai).
The founder of the Green Belt Movement way back in 1977 when the word green did not even exist in our minds, Wangari planted over 30 million trees in Africa to help women in rural Kenya to plant trees as a means of improving their livelihoods through better
access to clean water, firewood for cooking and other resources. Since then, the Green Belt Movement has planted over 30 million trees in Africa and assisted nearly 900,000 women to establish tree nurseries and plant trees to reverse the effects of deforestation.
Just imagine those full grown trees today, waving their branches in tribute to the woman who planted them and left them as her legacy of green gold to Africa.
Professor Maathai was the inspiration behind UNEP’s Billion Tree Campaign, which was launched in 2006. She became a patron of the campaign, inspiring thousands of people across the world to plant trees for the benefit of their communities. To date, over
11 billion trees have been planted as part of the campaign.
In 2004, the Nobel Prize Committee recognized Professor Maathai’s lifelong commitment to environmental sustainability and the empowerment of women by awarding her the Nobel Peace Prize. She was the first environmentalist and the first African woman to
receive the honour.
Famous for founding what is known as the Green Belt Movement, Wangaari explains during an interview held in Bali during the 11th Special session of the governing council/ global ministerial environment forum Bali, Indonesia in February 2010, how she mobilized
the help of poor women to plant 30 million trees as her fight against the desertification of Africa.
I have done several stories on Professor Wangaari. If she could do what she did in the '60's whats stopping us women in the 21st century? Hers was single minded determination, she did not need any spineless man to support her.
Wangari Mathai passed away in 2011.
Marianne de Nazareth writes a blog at