Portal:Environment/Selected biography/22

Wangari Muta Maathai (1 April 1940 – 25 September 2011) was a Kenyan environmental and political activist. She was educated in the United States at the University of Pittsburgh and at the University of Nairobi in Kenya. In the 1970s, Maathai founded the Green Belt Movement, an environmental non-governmental organization focused on the planting of trees, environmental conservation, and women's rights. In 1986, she was awarded the Right Livelihood Award, and in 2004 became the first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for "her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace." Maathai was an elected member of the National Assembly of Kenya and served as Assistant Minister for Environment and Natural Resources in the government of President Mwai Kibaki, from 2003 through 2005. She was an Honorary Councillor of the World Future Council.