Green Belt Movement

Green Belt Movement

The Green Belt Movement is a grassroots NGO based in indigenous Nairobi, Kenya, which takes a holistic approach to development by focusing on environmental conservation, community development and capacity building. Professor Wangari Maathai founded the organization in 1977 under the auspices of the National Council of Women of Kenya.

The Green Belt Movement organizes women in rural Kenya to plant trees, combating deforestation, restoring their main source of cooking fuel, to generate revenue, and stop soil erosion. Maathai has incorporated advocacy and empowerment, eco-tourism, and only economic development in the Green Belt Movement.

Since Maathai started the movement in 1977, more than 40 million trees were planted. Over 30,000 women trained in forestry, processing industry, beekeeping and other foods, allowing them to earn money while preserving their land and resources. Communities in Kenya (men and women) were motivated and organized both prevent further environmental destruction and restore what was damaged.

In 2004, Wangari Maathai, Nobel Peace Prize - to become the first African woman to win Nobel Peace Prize - for his work with the Greenbelt Movement. His book, The Green Belt Movement, published by Lantern Books. Maathai is a leader in the movement ecofeminist