Who was Wangari Maathai?
Wangari Muta Maathai was born in 1940 in Nyeri, Kenya. She studied biology in the United States and in 1971 became the first woman in East and Central Africa to earn a doctorate.
In 1977 she founded the Green Belt Movement, which mobilised rural women to plant trees to restore land, water and livelihoods. The movement has planted tens of millions of trees.
She was jailed and beaten for defending Nairobi's Uhuru Park and Karura Forest from development. In 2004 she received the Nobel Peace Prize for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace.