Wangari Maathai, the first black African woman to receive the Nobel Prize
Wangari Maathai’s compelling life story is inextricably linked with the social and political changes that so much of Africa has been through since the idea of throwing off European colonialism began to gain traction shortly after World War II.
Her unique insight was that the lives of Kenyans – and, by extension, of people in many other developing countries – would be made better if economic and social progress went hand in hand with environmental protection.
The Green Belt Movement, which she founded in 1977, has planted an estimated 45 million trees around Kenya.