Marking the Passing of an Environmental Leader, Climate Mama Extraordinaire: Wangari Maathai

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In 2004 she became the first African Woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, although her work championing women and the environment began decades earlier. Perhaps best know for her work on environmental sustainability and planting trees, Wangari Maathai died on September 25, 2011 in her home country of Kenya. We have lost an amazing Climate Mama, someone whose humanitarian and environmental legacy will stand as an example of “doing good” for generations.

Prof. Maathai’s determination to lift women up from poverty, empowering them to heal the environment they live in, served as an inspiration for women the world over. In more recent years, Prof. Maathai has taken a strong and outspoken international role on climate change policy, pushing for a stronger voice by civil society in policy decisions, in particular as it relates to protecting our indigenous forests.

In 2006 Prof. Maathai launched a campaign with the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) to plant 1 billion trees, meeting the goal in one year. Currently the goal stands at 14 billion! Grab the kids in your life and share with them some of the stories, the determination and the commitment of Wangari Maathai. Show them how one person CAN make a difference. Visit the Green Belt Movement website, Prof. Maathai’s organization, established to “mobilize community consciousness using tree planting as an entry point for self-determination, equity, improved livelihoods and security, and environmental conservation.”

Thank you Professor Maathai for all you have done to make the world a better place. Your legacy continues…..

“You cannot protect the environment unless you empower people, you inform them, and you help them understand that these resources are their own, that they must protect them.”
Wangari Maathai.