Wangari Maathai: the Green Belt Movement and the 2004 Peace Prize
Wangari Maathai was a Kenyan environmental and democracy advocate who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004.
Wangari Maathai was a Kenyan environmental and democracy advocate who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004.
An environmental movement
The Norwegian Nobel Committee identifies Maathai as the first African woman to receive the Peace Prize. Its account connects her recognition with sustainable development, democracy and peace.
In 1977 she started the grassroots movement known as the Green Belt Movement. It encouraged women to plant trees in local environments in response to deforestation threatening livelihoods. The Committee describes a wider vision involving women’s rights and democratic participation.
A career with several dimensions
The award page gives her lifespan as 1940–2011 and identifies Kenya as her country. It describes her academic work in biology as well as activism. The environmental and civic parts of the career should be read together rather than reduced to one tree-planting statistic.
Historical programme totals require their original measurement context. This article does not turn an old cumulative figure into a current count, nor claim that a new planting campaign occurred today.
How to read an environmental profile
Separate the person, organisation, activity and recognition. Write Maathai, Green Belt Movement, local tree planting and Peace Nobel—2004 on different lines. This original revision method clarifies that an organisation’s founding year and an award year answer different questions.
For a modern conservation claim, ask what was measured: planted seedlings, surviving trees, restored habitat or participation. Those outcomes are related but not interchangeable. A biography can establish why a movement began without verifying every present-day outcome attributed to it online.
Use a dated original report before repeating a current impact number. A photograph of planting or a motivational caption cannot by itself establish long-term survival. This is an editorial guide to interpreting evidence, not a quotation attributed to Maathai. The linked award page supplies the historical basis for this introduction.
Publication disclosure
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Frequently asked questions
When did the Green Belt Movement begin?
In 1977.
Which Nobel category recognised Maathai?
Peace, in 2004.