Wangari Maathai

Wangari Maathai was born in Nyeri, Kenya in 1940. Her family was poor tenant farmers. At age 8, Maathai began to attend primary school. At the time in Kenya, it was rare for girls to complete their education. Maathai was an outstanding student, and in 1960 she was invited to attend college in the United States. She got her bachelor’s degree in biology in Kansas, and then her master’s degree in Pittsburgh. She returned to Kenya afterward, making history in 1971 when she became the first woman in East Africa to earn a doctorate, and the first female professor in 1976. She went on to teach veterinary anatomy at the University of Nairobi.

Wangari Maathai founded the Green Belt Movement in response to the environmental devastation she saw happening around her. Massive deforestation, caused by a demand to use the forested land for development and building space in Africa was affecting everyone. It was affecting the lives of farmers and ordinary people, making farming harder, creating poverty, and ruining ecosystems. The massive deforestation was also a contributor to climate change. These issues were a huge concern to Professor Maathai. In 1976, she began to explore the idea of community-based tree planting, founding the Green Belt Movement as a grassroots movement to get people involved in reforestation in their own communities. In addition to involving communities in their own conservation efforts, the Green Belt Movement was also focused on helping underprivileged women through its organization, who had had deforestation affect their livelihoods. The Green Belt Movement paid these women to help with reforestation so they could support themselves and their families. Maathai also served on the National Council of Women of Kenya, serving as chairman from 1981 to 1987, and continued to speak about women’s issues, such as education and lack of opportunity, throughout her career. 

Her movement came into conflict with the Kenyan government several times. When Kenyan president Daniel Moi sought to destroy one of the parks in Kenya, Maathai led a peaceful protest to prevent destruction of the park. She and her protesters faced opposition from the government and the police, even leading to police brutality. Despite these challenges, the demonstrators were eventually able to stop construction that would have destroyed the park. Her political activism didn’t stop there; Maathai also wanted to end Kenya’s one party system and frequently worked with other democracy proponents to do so. Maathai was imprisoned and beaten many times for her activism, but eventually President Moi lost his position as president in 2002 in a multiparty election, and Maathai was appointed to the position of Assistant Minister for the Environment and a member of Parliament with 98% majority. 

Wangari Maathai won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 and has been internationally recognized for her work to support the environment, women, and the impoverished. Maathai continued her activism through her life, before her death in Nairobi, Kenya, on September 25, 2011, from ovarian cancer. 

Maathai was one of the most influential environmental activists of all time. Her movement made a huge impact on reforestation of deforested areas. Her movement wasn’t just focused on the effects it would have on the environment, but also in the betterment this would bring to communities. By involving communities in their reforestation efforts, she was able to connect people to the environment, bringing the movement closer to ordinary people and allowing them to make a difference. Maathai had stated that she didn’t know exactly why she was so driven to do what she did--she just felt there was a problem and that there was something she could do to fix it. I think she is the definition of a hero: selfless, driven, and dedicated to helping people. And her work was successful. She got her way in environmental and political activism and eventually gained support from all over the world for her actions, which she deserved by showcasing her character as a force of environmental positivity and conservation.