Wangari Maathai: Mother of Trees

Wangari did very well in school, and in 1960 she won Wangari Maathai: a scholarship. The money allowed her to go to college Mother of Trees in the United States. Wangari Maathai After finishing college (wahn-GAH-ree mah-THY) in 1966, Maathai returned was born in 1940 in a tiny to Kenya, where she attended village in Kenya, Africa. graduate school and taught She was one of six children college students. When she in her family. Her father came home, Maathai discovered was a peasant farmer. that the forests were being Wangari’s home had In 2004, Maathai waters a tree destroyed all over Kenya. she just planted during the no electricity or running Credits: Page © Toby Selander/Polaris/Newscom; 1: page © Karel 2: Prinsloo/AP Images The government was letting opening of a United Nations water, and she helped her conference on Women and the businesses use public forests Environment in Nairobi, Kenya. mother collect firewood for farming and logging. The businesses cut down for cooking fuel. Young trees to sell the wood and cleared grasslands for tea Wangari loved to garden and coffee plantations. For Wangari Maathai, trees were a symbol and work with the soil. of peace and democracy. She played among fig trees Do You Know? and listened to birds sing. From 1978 until 2002, Kenya was ruled by a corrupt leader She played with tadpoles in a stream. Rainy seasons who took away people’s personal freedom. Maathai got involved provided plenty of clean drinking water. Fields of wheat, in politics as she challenged the president in a struggle for corn, beans, and vegetables produced enough food for democracy. She was punished and jailed many times for opposing everyone all year. the government’s actions that allowed businesses to destroy the environment. Wangari’s parents saw that she was very smart. Even In 2002, Maathai was elected to a position in the government. though most Kenyan girls didn’t go to school, Wangari She wanted to promote democracy and helped write a new started at age eight. She discovered that her favorite subject constitution and Bill of Rights for Kenya. It included rights for was science. people and other animals and protections for the environment.

© Learning A–Z All rights reserved. 1 www.readinga-z.com 2 The farming and logging created Areas of Africa Facing the Most Deforestation many problems. The soil was no Between 2010 and 2030 longer good enough to grow food. EUROPE Rivers and streams were drying up. Forests could no longer contain rainwater, so they flooded. Animals started to die off. As a result, women had to travel farther to find food, water, and firewood for their families. ASIA The lack of food and water caused In 2006, Barack Obama, fighting among tribes. then a United States Senator, helped Maathai plant a tree AFRICA in Kenya. Maathai wanted to help. She founded the Green Belt Movement Credits: Page 3: © Sayyid Azim/AP Images (GBM) on Earth Day in 1977. Maathai gave rural women seedlings and asked them to plant “green belts” of trees throughout Kenya. The women were also paid for all the Congo Basin Kenya trees they were able to keep alive. Maathai understood that ATLANTIC INDIAN OCEAN the new trees would make the soil stronger, store rainwater, OCEAN and provide food and firewood. KEY

GBM was a big success. In 2004, Maathai won the Nobel deforested areas most at risk Peace Prize for her work. She was the first African woman to receive this honor. By that time, village women had planted thirty million trees throughout Kenya. East EUROPE Maathai died in 2011, but her work continues. GBM Africa helps communities grow the trees and food they need. AFRICA Today, more than fifty-one million trees have been planted In Africa, the areas most at risk are found in the Congo Basin and in East Africa. If the current trends continue, throughout Africa. Maathai was called Mama Miti, 300,000 square kilometers (115,831 sq. mi.) of forest will be destroyed in each of these areas. “Mother of Trees.” She is still known by that name today. Source: World Wildlife Fund