​"It's the little things citizens do that will make a difference. My little thing is planting trees."

• BIOLOGIST
• FIRST African woman and FIRST environmental activist to win the NOBEL PEACE PRIZE
• Grew up in Kenya in a fertile and biodiverse environment
• Attended formal school, which was rare for girls in Kenya, and was among the FIRST Black students at her high school
• Earned her undergraduate degree in the United States, and became the FIRST woman in East and Central Africa to earn a doctorate (in Kenya) in the sciences
• Taught at the University of Munich and the University of Nairobi
• Horrified at the drastic increase of development and destruction of natural habitat in her home country, she recognized that without trees, the soil dried up and crops were devastated, causing villagers and their livestock to go hungry
• Maathai founded the Green Belt Movement, visiting villages all over Kenya to teach the women how to plant trees, and paying them to care for the seedlings
• Also organized protests against building developments, most famously SAVING the public Uhuru Park in Nairobe from government control and destruction
• Faced significant opposition from government and private interests, and was arrested many times and beaten in jail
• President of the National Council of Women of Kenya
• The Green Belt Movement has since planted THIRTY MILLION trees, empowering thousands of women across Africa
• March 3 is celebrated every year throughout the African Union as Wangari Maathai Day

Bibliography: Caldwell, Stella, Clare Hibbert, Andrea Mills, and Rona Skene. 100 Women Who Made History: Remarkable Women Who Shaped Our World. New York: DK Publishing, 2017. Print.
Kanogo, Tabitha. "Maathai, Wangari." The Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in World History, Vol. 3, Oxford University Press, 2008, 139-140.
​Wilson, Jamia. Young, Gifted and Black. London: Quarto Publishing, 2018. Print.
Green Belt Movement. http://www.greenbeltmovement.org/

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Support these organizations dedicated to preserving her story and mission:

Green Belt Movement
Wangari Maathai Foundation

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