Wangari Maathai

What she did

Founded Kenya's Green Belt Movement in 1977, organising women to plant trees and protect their livelihoods. She received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004.

Impact and significance

The movement made tree planting a form of community organising, linking environmental repair with women's income and participation in public life.

This is Matria’s interpretation, not a quotation or personalised advice.

Works recorded in the archive

• Founded the Green Belt Movement (1977)
• awarded the Nobel Peace Prize (2004)
• Unbowed: A Memoir (2006)
• The Green Belt Movement (2003)

Sources and access

• Wangari Maathai, Nobel Prize biographical record
• Maathai, Wangari. Unbowed: A Memoir. Alfred A. Knopf, 2006.Bibliographic reference. Consult the named edition through a library or publisher.
• Maathai, Wangari. The Green Belt Movement: Sharing the Approach and the Experience. Lantern Books, 2003.Bibliographic reference. Consult the named edition through a library or publisher.
• Recounted in talks and the documentary Dirt! The Movie (2009); widely attributed to Maathai's hummingbird parableBibliographic reference. Consult the named edition through a library or publisher.

This label concerns the sources on this record. It does not validate every argument an author makes or establish what is true for a reader. Bibliographic coverage does not mean every passage or quotation has been verified. Specialist review remains pending.