What we can learn from Wangari Maathai

On Monday I reviewed Wangari Maathai’s biography, Unbowed. But Wangari Maathai Day is actually today and I wanted to reflect a little more on what we can learn from the life of Kenya’s best known environmentalist.

Maathai hailed from the Rift Valley, where I spent some very formative years myself. I witnessed the majesty of Kenya’s forests and its wildlife there, but also the effects of forest fires, deforestation, erosion and drought. My environmentalism has been shaped by some of the same ...