Wangari Maathai

Wangari Maathai founded the Green Belt movement in Kenya in 1977, which has planted more than 10 million trees to prevent soil erosion and provide firewood for cooking fires. A 1989 United Nations report noted that only 9 trees were being replanted in Africa for every 100 that were cut down, causing serious problems with deforestation. Some of problems included soil runoff, water pollution, difficulty finding firewood, human health, and lack of animal nutrition.

Wangari Maathai was the first African woman to win a Nobel Prize. She died on September 25, 2011 at 71 years of age.  Drawing by Mike Leveille