Who is wangari maathai and what did she do

The Wangari Maathai Foundation. The vision of the Wangari Maathai Foundation is a world in which individuals acknowledge their capacity to be a force for positive transformation like Wangari Maathai was. Condolences from World Leaders and Friends. Through the Green Belt Movement, she mobilized thousands of women and men to plant tens of millions of trees throughout Kenya.

This in turn replenished streams, and the trees provide food, fodder, and fuel — maintaining the livelihoods of communities. Within a few years, Prof. Wangari Maathai realized that the illegal and corrupt privatization of public land necessitated a more systematic and comprehensive approach to conservation. These activities brought Prof. Wangari Maathai into direct conflict with the Kenyan government.

She was harassed, threatened, beaten, and jailed. Nevertheless, Prof. Wangari Maathai and GBM persevered, earning national and global recognition for her transformative work. William Heinemann, London, Wangari Maathai died on 25 September Back to top Back To Top Takes users back to the top of the page. Nobel Prizes Thirteen laureates were awarded a Nobel Prize in , for achievements that have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind. See them all presented here.

Select the category or categories you would like to filter by Physics. Economic Sciences. Maathai sought to end the devastation of Kenya's forests and lands caused by development and remedy the negative impact that this development had on the country's environment. In , she launched the Green Belt Movement to reforest her beloved country while helping the nation's women. Proving to be very successful, the movement is responsible for the planting of more than 30 million trees in Kenya and providing roughly 30, women with new skills and opportunities.

Maathai also challenged the government on its development plans and its handling of the country's land. An outspoken critic of dictator Daniel arap Moi, she was beaten and arrested numerous times. One of her most famous actions was in Maathai and her organization staged a protest in Nairobi's Uhuru Park to prevent the construction of a skyscraper.

Her campaign drew international attention, and the project was eventually dropped. The place in the park where she demonstrated became known as "Freedom Corner. The following year, Maathai was beaten and badly injured at another protest in "Freedom Corner. What had started out as an environmental movement quickly became a political effort as well.

But I started seeing the linkages between the problems that we were dealing with and the root causes of environmental degradation. And one of those root causes was misgovernance. Maathai remained a vocal opponent of the Kenyan government until Moi's political party lost control in After several failed attempts, she finally earned a seat in the country's parliament that same year.