Environmental stalwart Wangari Maathai leaves a lasting legacy

Kenyan environmental and social activist and 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai who passed on Sunday has left a lasting legacy in the work she has done to create awareness and promote the protection the environment.

Chief executive of the Nelson Mandela Foundation, Achmat Dangor sent condolences to family and friends of the late founder of the Green Belt Movement and said Dangor: "It was with great sadness that we learned of the passing of this exceptional environmental activist.

"Her work with the Green Belt Movement in Kenya and as an activist for civil and women's rights in Kenya and beyond received worthy recognition internationally when she was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 2004.

"We were honoured in 2005 to have had Prof Maathai, then Deputy Minister of Environment in Kenya, deliver the Third Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture."

Dangor went on to quote passages from the speech delivered by Maathai at the lecture: "We need people who love Africa so much that they want to protect her from destructive processes... There are simple actions we can take. Start by planting ten trees. We each need to absorb the carbon dioxide we exhale." BuaNews

For more information on Wangari Maathai’s life visit here.