Maathai, Wangari (1940–)

Wangari Muta Maathai is a champion of environmental conservation, democracy, human rights, and social justice. She is the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

Maathai studied in her home country, Kenya, and the United States. She studied biology and, after earning her Ph.D. in anatomy, taught at the University of Nairobi.

Seeing the devastating effects of deforestation in Kenya, Maathai resolved to dedicate herself to environmental work. In 1977, she resigned from the university to found the Green Belt Movement (GBM) Kenya. Its aim was to restore Kenya's forests and thus curb the poverty caused specifically by deforestation, particularly among rural women. Through GBM, more than 30 million trees have been planted across Kenya to date. Over the years, GBM has also engaged in campaigns to educate women, to promote nutrition and reproductive health, and to develop HIV/AIDS awareness.

In 1986, GBM established the Pan-African Green Belt Network. After receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, Maathai set up GBM International, whose goal is to encourage the worldwide protection of the environment and to promote good governance and cultures of peace and tolerance. The Wangari-Maathai Foundation, which focuses on cultural diversity, greening the earth, and good governance, has been established to complement the work of GBM and promote its activities.

Maathai has been harassed and arrested several times in Kenya during her environmental and sociopolitical campaigns. In 1989, though vilified and threatened by the Kenyan regime, she successfully opposed its plan to construct a 62-story skyscraper at Nairobi's main recreational garden, Uhuru Park, arguing that it was environmentally, aesthetically, and fiscally unsound. Maathai has stood up against the introduction of the “shamba” system, which seeks to legalize farming in Kenyan forests.

In the 2002 general elections, Maathai was elected to Kenya's Ninth Parliament and subsequently appointed assistant minister for environment and natural resources. President Mwai Kibaki dissolved his cabinet in 2005 after his government was defeated in an ethnically charged referendum over a proposed draft constitution for the country. When Kibaki reappointed her, Maathai declined the position, calling on the president to seek first dialogue across the Kenyan ethnic divide.

Maathai has been concerned with the empowerment of the Third World. She was a leading crusader in the Jubilee 2000 Africa Campaign, which appealed to international money-lending institutions to write off the debts of poor African countries. She has similarly been involved in peace programs across Africa.

The Green Belt Movement and Maathai have been recognized with awards and honors across the globe. She gives addresses and lectures around the world and serves on the boards of many organizations dealing [Page 884]with issues of environmental conservation, human rights, and governance.