Lessons from Wangari Maathai on environment

NAIROBI: This week we mark the fourth anniversary of the passing on of Nobel laureate Prof Wangari Maathai. A woman of many firsts, the late Maathai left an impact that might take long for another African to match after her death from cancer on September 25, 2011. Not because it is an impossible feat. Rather, it is due to the total selflessness and full commitment needed for such exceptional leadership. Starting off her career as a graduate of veterinary medicine, she soon swapped the animal kingdom with a higher calling as an environmentalist and human rights activist.

Her contribution to environmental conservation and social welfare was so compelling at a global scale that, in 2004, she became the first African woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Indeed, the Norwegian Nobel Committee cited her unwavering efforts in “sustainable development, democracy and peace”, adding that she “stands at the front of the fight to promote ecologically viable social, economic and cultural development in Kenya and in Africa”. “ In response, Maathai said: “I believe the Nobel committee was sending a message that protecting and restoring the environment contributes to peace; it is peace work ... I always felt that our work was not simply about planting trees. It was about inspiring people to take charge of their environment, the system that governed them, their lives, and their future.”