![]() ![]() Projects were for the benefit of whole of the community, not just the women. (If this had happened in the West, there’d already be a movie) Maathai was a feminist and her movement was women-led, but men and boys were welcome and had roles to play. ![]() One of her most powerful actions was a year-long occupation of All Saints Cathedral by mothers demanding the release of their sons who were held as political prisoners. Her work was at the intersection of sexism and rural poverty. The Greenbelt Movement that she led was a project of the National Council of Women of Kenya until it was hived off as a separate organisation. Maathai’s tree planting grew out of her work with women. The Peace Prize has since gone to Al Gore and the IPCC, and you can place your bets for Greta Thunberg if you are so inclined. Plenty of people already knew this of course, but it was a high profile connection. Maathai was the first, and it marked an insight from the Nobel committee: that environmentalism was not just about nature, but was about non-violence, conflict avoidance and social justice. The Nobel Peace Prize hadn’t gone to an environmentalist before. There is no green silo for environmental issues. To be effective in using those rights, you need people who are literate and articulate and confident in holding the authorities to account, which leads you into education. For that you need to teach people about their rights and the government’s responsibilities. You cannot protect the natural world without confronting the threats to it. She was an environmentalist but also worked on civil rights, democracy, education and poverty. Maathai is known for the holistic nature of her work. With that said, here are a few things that I think we can learn from her story. Nevertheless, I’m aware that this is my perspective, as a white man on the other side of the world. My environmentalism has been shaped by some of the same forces as Maathai’s and so I feel an affinity with her story. I witnessed the majesty of Kenya’s forests and its wildlife there, but also the effects of forest fires, deforestation, erosion and drought. Maathai hailed from the Rift Valley, where I spent some very formative years myself. But Wangari Maathai Day is actually today and I wanted to reflect a little more on what we can learn from the life of Kenya’s best known environmentalist. On Monday I reviewed Wangari Maathai’s biography, Unbowed. ![]()
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