Wangari Maathai was an internationally renowned Kenyan politician and environmental activist. She served as the country’s assistant minister of environment, natural resources, and wildlife. She was born on 1st April 1940, in Neyri in Kenya.
In 1977, Maathai founded the Green Belt Movement, an environmental non-governmental organization focused on the planting of trees, environmental conservation, and women’s rights. The movement was initiated to draw attention, and attend to environmental and domestic hardships faced by rural women in Kenya.
Through the Green Belt Movement Maathai assisted women in planting more than 20 million trees. The Green Belt Movement encouraged the women to work together to plant trees and receive a small monetary token for their work.
In 2004, Maathai became the first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. Maathai died on 25th September 2011.
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