At the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in February 2012, Africa Environment Day was renamed Wangari Maathai Day to honor the famous activist and Nobel Peace laureate whose life work was dedicated to bringing African communities together to preserve the environment. The day, which will be celebrated on Saturday, March 3rd, recognizes Professor Maathai’s “unwavering dedication to promoting peace, democracy and human rights in Africa.” The day was created in 2002 as a way to call attention to the many environmental problems faced by Africans, including deforestation, climate change, biodiversity loss, and desertification, all of which pose serious challenges for its citizens and the world. Wangari Maathai sadly passed away last September, but tomorrow we take time to remember her incredible legacy and look to the future with the same courage that she had.
The story of the environmental activist Wangari Maathai is the story of a passionate woman who found a seemingly simple solution to many of the devastating adversities faced by the people in her home country of Kenya. Wangari returned to her rural roots after studying in the US, only to witness her people’s struggle to find firewood, clean water, healthy soil, and nutritious food. The solution that solved many of these related problems seemed clear and simple to Wangari, plant trees. She realized that trees could hold water locally, keep the soil intact, provide wood for fires, protection from harsh weather, and provide food. Beyond these immediate benefits, Wangari’s inspiring message to communities to start planting trees had a much greater effect than she could have ever dreamed. It sparked a powerful grassroots movement, deemed The Green Belt Movement, which empowered women to take action in their communities. Tree planting became a gateway to addressing the solutions to “deforestation, poverty, ignorance, embedded economic interests, and violent political oppression” (www.newday.com). The Green Belt Movement went from a small group of women planting trees to a large empowering grassroots force that confronted the human rights violations and environmental degradation common to Africa.
ARC is proud to celebrate Wangari’s legacy since she represents so much of what we believe in. Protecting rainforests and the diversity of life within them means addressing issues that go far beyond environmental problems. The reason Wangari was such a visionary was that she was able to realize that environmental issues are also human rights issues. Without the benefits of a healthy environment, there is no clean water, healthy soil to grow food, protection from storms and droughts, and the cultural pride that comes with the magnificence of nature. ARC works to protect nature, not just for nature’s sake. but so that it can nurture human vitality as well. So this Saturday, we join the world in celebrating an extraordinary women who continues to inspire us daily.
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