The Green Belt Movement: Sharing the Approach and the Experience (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In October 2004, environmental activist Maathai became the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, an honor that has sparked the publication of this expanded edition of her slim treatise, first published in 1985 and then revised in 2003. As founder of Kenya’s Green Belt Movement, a grassroots organization that encourages tree planting and other environmental initiatives, Maathai clashed often with the former Kenyan government but, in 2002, she was elected to the country’s Parliament and became assistant minister for the environment. This book begins with a dry account of the Green Belt Movement’s 20-year history, which has been filled with setbacks and successes that are undoubtedly fascinating, but Maathai hurries by them with bland, cut-and-dry statements ("Unfortunately, very few people responded"; "Save the Land Harambee began to spread quickly"). The second half of the book reads like an extended grant proposal, enumerating goals and projects, explaining why ideas are worthwhile and outlining step-by-step processes that similar groups can follow. Many sections are little more than laundry lists of activities and achievements that barely hint at the group’s struggles against countless obstacles, particularly corruption and indifference. The material added to this edition seems slight: the Nobel committee’s statement on Maathai, her acceptance speech, a new preface and an interview she did with the Worldwatch Institute, where at last some of her passion shines through. Many Westerners didn’t recognize Maathai’s name when she won the Nobel and, while this description of the Green Belt Movement’s admirable past is enlightening, it reads like a presentation Maathai might make to potential donors.
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Product Description

Wangari Muta Maathai was born in Nyeri, Kenya in 1940. In 1960, she won a Kennedy scholarship to study in America and earned a master’s degree in biology from the University of Pittsburgh and became the first woman in East Africa to earn a Ph.D.

Returning to Kenya in 1966, Wangari Maathai was shocked at the degradation of the forests and the farmland caused by deforestation. Heavy rains had washed away much of the topsoil, silt was clogging the rivers, and fertilizers were depriving the soil of nutrients. Wangari decided to solve the problem by planting trees.

Under the auspices of the National Council of Women of Kenya, of which she was chairwoman from 1981 to 1987, she introduced the idea of planting trees through citizen foresters in 1976, and called this new organization the Green Belt Movement (GBM). She continued to develop GBM into broad-based, grassroots organization whose focus was women’s groups planting of trees in order to conserve the environment and improve their quality of life. Through the Green Belt Movement, Wangari Maathai has assisted women in planting more than 20 million trees on their farms and on schools and church compounds in Kenya and all over East Africa.

In Africa, as in many parts of the world, women are responsible for meals and collecting firewood. Increasing deforestation has not only meant increasing desertification, but it has also meant that women have had to travel further and further afield in order to collect the firewood. This in turn has led to women spending less time around the home, tending to crops, and looking after their children. By staying closer to home, earning income from sustainably harvesting the fruit and timber from trees, women not only can be more productive, they can provide stability in the home. They can also create time for education opportunities—whether for themselves or their children.

This virtuous circle of empowerment through conservation is serving as a model throughout the world, where women both individually and collectively are entrusted with money and material to invest it in ways that make a difference to their daily lives. Wangari Maathai’s Green Belt Movement is a great example of how one person can turn around the lives of thousands, if not millions of others, by empowering others to change their situation.

Wangari’s road to success was by no means easy. During the 1970s and 1980s, she came under increasing scrutiny from the government of Daniel arap Moi. She was frequently the target of vilification from the government, as well as subject to outright attacks and imprisonment. She refused to compromise her belief that the people were best trusted to look after their natural resources, as opposed to the corrupt cronies of the government, who were given whole swathes of public land, which they then despoiled.

In January 2003, Wangari Maathai was elected by an overwhelming margin to Parliament, where she is the Assistant Secretary for Environnment, Wildlife, and Natural Resources in the democratically elected Kibaki government. Even though she is now being protected by the very same soldiers who once arrested her, her voice on behalf of the environment is still strong and determined.

In The Green Belt Movement, founder Wangari Maathai tells its story: why it started, how it operates, and where it is going. She includes the philosophy behind it, its challenges and objectives, and the specific steps involved in starting a similar grassroots environmental and social justice organization. The Green Belt Movement is the inspiring story of people working at the grassroots level to improve their environment and their country. Their story offers ideas about a new and hopeful future for Africa and the rest of the world.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 117 pages
• Publisher: Lantern Books; Revised edition (March 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 159056040X
• ISBN-13: 978-1590560402
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #62,979 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars GREEN BELT MOVEMENT, February 6, 2005

By	peacenik (new york) - See all my reviews

I found this book to be an enlightening and educating account of the background and work of the current Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Wangari Maathai. THE GREEN BELT MOVEMENT is currently the only volume that provides as much insight on this topic.

This book aptly illustrates the practical effect a visionary can have towards the cause of unifying and balancing the degraded social, cultural and biological environment that we inhabit, by it's ample portrayal of the life, philosophy and focus of Prof. Maathai.

I highly recommend this book.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Depressed about the environment? Read this book!!, February 4, 2005

By	Lisa Merton - See all my reviews

The Green Belt Movement by Wangari Maathai is a wonderful, informative and user-friendly book that gives a good sense of the movement's history and the person behind it. Just as Maathai in her work likes to keep her hands in the dirt planting trees, in her book she cuts directly to the meat and bones of what the Green Belt Movement is about and how it functions practically on the ground.

The book illustrates both the work of the Green Belt Movement and the philosophical motivations behind it, making it a useful and applicable guide to any person or organization interested or involved in a grassroots, holistic, and sustainable approach to changing the environmental and social threads of our world.

Throughout the text Maathai's directness, integrity and humor shines through, revealing the dynamic and rich personality behind this inspirational movement.
"I assumed that all people working in public service loved the people they served, were accountable and transparent, and had integrity. That was part of the culture that had been inculcated in me by my parents and teachers. It was part of my personality, character and conscience. I have since learned that such assumptions are shared by few." This statement is vital to an understanding of who Wangari Maathai is and is one of the reasons she won the Nobel Peace Prize. She has always had great integrity and she has never been willing to compromise it.

Throughout the book there are passages that let the reader know that this person who is writing is brilliant, funny and also deeply modest. Wangari Maathai is an extraordinary person and this book provides a good sense of the hard work that went into creating the Green Belt Movement. I recommend it.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely fascinating work, February 6, 2005

By	SBT "Reader of Many Things" - See all my reviews

This book took me into the grassroots level work of the newest Nobel Peace Prize winner. I was glad to get a glimpse into what the world is just recognizing as the new frontier - the hope that comes from action at the local level which makes real course changes in our world as a whole. I enjoyed the very practical outline of this movement's accomplishments and connections to the growing consciousness for earth's slow, steady salvation.