Winner of the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize
By Paula D., past NGO Director and Valerie G., Environment Committee Chair
The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Wangari Maathai, an African woman and environmentalist, adding a new dimension to the concept of peace. Maathai, who is Kenya's Deputy Environmental minister, was cited by the Nobel committee for her longtime leadership of the green Belt Movement, which has helped reverse the African continent's deforestation and protect native eco-systems and wildlife habitats. Deforestation and other environmental issues are considered to be a fundamental cause of Africa's intense poverty, with feuds over dwindling resources setting the stage for wars (Kenya, for instance, has lost 90% of its native forests since the 1950s). By planting more than 30 million trees across Africa, Maathai has seeded hope for the future of her country, the African continent and the world.
FAWCO shares the vision of Maathai: in 1995, following the FAWCO conference in Nairobi, former President Lucy L. and FAWCO Environment Committee Chair, Valerie G., planted 50 trees, donated by AWC Zurich, in Amboselli wildlife reserve below Mount Kilimanjaro. In Morocco, the AIWC Casablanca administers the FAWCO Millennium Forest, which has planted thousands of trees in rural areas, with the help of Peace Corps volunteers locally and of FAWCO clubs worldwide. Trees are purchased by FAWCO conference delegates with the objective of making travel to annual FAWCO meetings "carbon neutral."
Recently, Wangari Maathai spoke at the first Women's Environment Assembly, held at the Nairobi-based headquarters of the U.N. Environment Program (UNEP) of more than 140 prominent women environmentalists from 60 countries. Her subject was "A World in Need of Women's Leadership". The Assembly, under the banner "Women As the Voice for the Environment (WAVE)", aimed to highlight the role of women in conservation and sustainable development and to propose a Manifesto of concrete recommendations and specific projects. Professor Maathai is also a strong advocate for the UNEP sponsored "Clean UpThe World" movement, which FAWCO supports.