ABSTRACT
In 2005, the Nobel committee surprised the world by giving the peace prize to an environmental activist. Wangari Maathai was a cofounder of the Green Belt Movement, a grassroots organization mobilizing Kenyan women to develop tree nurseries and plant trees in order to combat deforestation. However, she and the Green Belt Movement were also key players in the fight against Daniel arap Moi’s kleptocratic authoritarian regime, which plundered Kenya’s national resources and risked its future for private gain. Increasingly, the work of the Green Belt Movement highlighted the intersection of environmental activism and issues of human and civil rights, democratic rule, and social justice. It also helped challenge the association of environmentalism in Africa with fortress-style wildlife conservation, driven by the priorities of affluent nations and African elites.
