BLACK HISTORY MONTH!

Hi! Today, I have the first black history month special! For black history month, I am going to be writing about some inspiring black environmentalists. There is obviously a lack of diversity in the conservation field; but whatever you look like, there will be someone out there who you can be inspired by. Today, get ready to learn all about.....

WANGARI MAATHAI!

Wangari Maathai is the founder of the Green Belt Movement, an organisation that has planted over 50 million trees! It has also provided many jobs for women and become a symbol of democracy. Wangari was born in Kenya and, ever since she was little, her mother had told her never to cut down the wood of fig trees. She could enjoy the shade, eat the fruits; but never, never could she take the wood: for fig trees were sacred.

Wangari left Kenya after graduating from her high school and went on to university in the US. She studied Biological Sciences and became the first woman in Central and Eastern Africa to get a doctorate. After returning to Kenya, Wangari decided to try and run for mayor. Unfortunately, her political enemies persuaded the court to tell her she couldn't participate in the election because she was a woman.

Wangari was very upset; but there was one advantage to this: she had more time to devote her self to the standard of living in rural villages like the one she grew up in. But when she returned to her village, what a sight met her eyes! People had cut down the fig trees and now the village's water supply was failing!

Only Wangari understood the connection between these events because of her education. She saw that the fig trees were a vital part of the Ecosystem and that without them, the rest of the wildlife began to falter. And that's when she founded the Green Belt Movement! 

Wangari's legacy lives on today. In 2004, she became the first African to win the Nobel Peace Prize! And right now, because of her, someone somewhere is planting a tree.

🌳🌳🌳