The managing director for Africa and Global Partnerships at the World Resources Institute, Wanjira Mathai has led the green belt movement in Kenya as the former chair, the organization her mother, the late Wangari Maathai founded in 1977. From Nairobi, she spoke to FORBES AFRICA about issues such as climate change, youth leadership and landscape restoration – crucial conversations as she honors the 20th anniversary of her mother’s Nobel Peace Prize. here are exclusive excerpts from the interview.



Q. Twenty years on since your mother, Professor Wangari Maathai, won the Nobel Peace Prize, how much does she influence your thinking even now? 



A. We are working on a year-long celebration of the 20 years of the Nobel prize. In 2004, my mother was the first environmentalist and first African woman to receive the prize, and it has so many moments of resonance with things that we are still realizing 20 years later. We feel that it’s really important to unpack the power of that prize, the foresight that she had, a lot of the warnings that she gave us, and just the way she so effortlessly and brilliantly wove sustainability with the environment. That message still resonates, and she made history 20 years ago. The power, beauty, wisdom and genius of the Green Belt Movement is really showing up again in ways that we had hoped would continue. I’m really proud of what they’re doing now.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="683" src="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/GettyImages-1757003682.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-64665" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/GettyImages-1757003682.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/GettyImages-1757003682-300x200.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/GettyImages-1757003682-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">King Charles III (C) is guided by daughter of Professor Wangari Maathai, Wanjira Mathai (R) and a Government official (L) during a visit to Karura urban forest( Photo by Pool &#8211; Phil Noble/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>



Q. How far did this upbringing by a strong woman inspire you? Is being an environmentalist something you always wanted to do?



A. Actually, quite the contrary. My entire educational career was in public health, so I went in a completely different path. I was a scientist, and I remember feeling that we don’t all have to do the same thing, and it was really important that we do something different, because she’s done the environment thing. But I think, in retrospect, my mother planted the seed in all of us, actually in the family, but also in us as a country. A lot of what she said, a lot of what she did, a lot of what she wrote was often always for posterity.



[Growing up], we used to live in a rather small compound, and in that space, [my mother made us] plant something all the time. If people asked where we lived, they would [be told], ‘just follow the trees’, because it was the only compound, about a quarter of an acre, that was packed with green vegetation. It does influence your sense of what’s beautiful…



I was working very happily in Atlanta in public health, working on diseases I had never heard of. My mother would always say, a healthy environment supports healthy people. Everything she did and said was about the environment – the food we eat, the air we breathe. She was so clear the environment was central to who and what we are. And if we destroy the environment, we destroy ourselves. In public health too, we would come back to the same conclusion; we were dealing with diseases that had to do with polluted water or contaminated water, with the lack of sanitation, with mosquitoes carrying these diseases, all of them had to do with an environment in distress, or an environment out of balance. In retrospect, it showed me that my mother was right. The environment is everything. She colored the environment constantly with this deep sense of beauty and wonder, and I think that had to have an influence on us, that would manifest much later. Her message, her energy, her aura, her charisma, captivated the world in a way we never appreciated or understood then.



I had the sheer gift of working with my mother, traveling with her, meeting some of the most extraordinary leaders and humans around the world, and just feeling like I was the luckiest person in the world.



[When she passed], people were like, ‘how is it going to be to live in the shadow of this giant’, and I remember thinking in my heart and saying, ‘I’m not living in her shadow, I’m basking in her light’…



We set up the Wangari Maathai Foundation, focusing on youth leadership. It continues to carry the legacy work. And it’s actually the foundation that’s leading the 20-year celebration [of her Nobel prize], because we’re saying this is part of the legacy. The Green Belt Movement continues, I then moved to chair the foundation. Then I joined the World Resources Institute, leading the Africa strategy work, but I feel, in many ways, this is like the intersection of everything I’ve done, from the environment to public health work. I feel so energized, I feel lucky to have the global reach that I have as a global partnership director, but I also feel so grounded in the work that is happening, and that is a privilege.



Q. You were in Cape Town in November 2024 as a member of the Earthshot Prize Council which also includes names such as Prince William, Queen Rania, Cate Blanchet and Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. What was the experience like?



A. The Earthshot Prize is bigger than any prize. 2030 is around the corner, and we need some really big, bold ideas that will lead to transformative change. All the finalists of the prize, 15 of them, become part of an ecosystem of support second to none. It’s not just the prize itself. They’ve been able to raise their visibility and the prominence of the work they do. It’s an ecosystem of support building catalytic, transformative change, and in the sectors that are most important in the environment. It’s a privilege to sit on the Prize Council, with some of the people I most admire. And it’s so normal – everybody’s grappling, everybody shares their opinions. You don’t have to all agree, but we all get to the same place in the end.



Q. What&#8217;s it like working with Prince William?



A. On the jury, he’s just a jury member like the rest of us. He gives his opinion, shares what he’s saying and you agree or not, and he literally makes it so easy. He’s a humble human and not there believing he’s doing it better than someone else. It’s the service. He’s actually also in awe of what the prize has achieved. He was really grateful for the council, but also spent a lot of time with the prize winners. He was very accessible and approachable. He was very generous.



Q. In 2024, you announced $17.8 million in funding for 92 local land restoration groups as part of the WRI&#8217;s partnership with the TerraFund for AFR100 initiative.



A. AFR100 is a pan-African country-led effort to restore 100 million hectares. It was a deliberately huge target as ambition has to be high, and that ambition was getting governments to make a commitment around how much they will restore. They all made commitments. And actually, we beat the 100-million-hectare target, but the real work is in where exactly is the restoration going to happen and who is going to do it etc. We saw the AFR100 transform into multiple other movements…



Q. With Africa&#8217;s great youth dividend, how do you get the youth to be so involved and compassionate about the environment? They seem to be so much more driven than the previous generations.



A. Anyone who’s watching Kenya right now knows that that generation is extremely activated, not necessarily because they care so much about one thing or the other, but it’s really about their deep sense of justice. They feel that accountability and integrity are the most important things. If your job is to deliver ABC, deliver it. If you don’t, they actually have the agency and the power to do something about it. My generation was different. We came from a dictatorial environment where we were actually fearful of challenging government authority. This generation doesn’t have any of that fear, and that’s really inspiring to see, because they perceive that you should be doing the right thing, public opinion notwith- standing. It’s a very refreshing sense of justice… They care about how they are governed. We have 70% of people in Kenya who are under the age of 35. It’s a very interesting time to see what’s happening. I’m really inspired by them. They need our solidarity. They need our commitment.



Q. You were named one of Time magazine&#8217;s 100 Most Influential African Women in 2018, 2020 and 2021. Last year, you were named one of its 100 Most Influential Climate Leaders. It must feel special.



A. It’s most generous. It’s an honor. It reminds you that you need to keep ploughing on and doing what you’re doing is important. But I also know that there are so many people do- ing amazing things. Maybe they don’t get seen, maybe they don’t get heard. So, it’s a privilege to be seen.



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2004 Nobel Peace Prize Winner, Wangari Maathai

‘My Mother’s Deep Sense Of Beauty And Wonder’: On Wangari Maathai, 20 Years Since Her Nobel Peace Prize

The South African actor immerses herself in all things Kenyan, from the natural wonders to cultural experiences, and has an awakening.&nbsp;&nbsp; 



It’s a Wednesday afternoon in Sandton, South Africa, and the
sun is a couple of hours away from its daily disappearance down the horizon.
FORBES AFRICA makes a phone call. A voice at the other end says a deep “hello”.
It is award-winning South African actor and entrepreneur Nomzamo Mbatha, who is
in New York City and has just woken up. 



From the Big Apple, her mind travels to Africa.



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="924" height="619" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Nomzamo1.png.png" alt="" class="wp-image-40770" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Nomzamo1.png.png 924w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Nomzamo1.png-300x201.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Nomzamo1.png-600x402.png 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Nomzamo1.png-768x514.png 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 924px) 100vw, 924px" /><figcaption> Nomzamo Mbatha describes Kenya as the warmest place in Africa. Picture: Supplied</figcaption></figure></div>



When she’s not scorching television screens, in the award-winning South African drama-series, Isibaya, Mbatha spends a lot of time traveling. 



She has been to 13 countries, but as an African, none has
made her feel at home quite like Kenya. 



She describes it as the warmest place in Africa and speaks
of her endearing memories of the East African country. 



“Kenya makes you feel like you should live there. Kenya
makes you feel like you’re at home&#8230;” says Mbatha.



She traveled there for the first time when she was 16,
handpicked by Save the Children, a non-governmental organization promoting
children’s rights, as one of three South African children representing the
country at a conference hosted by Kenya.



Mbatha recounts her first impressions. 



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="928" height="615" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Nomzamo2.png.png" alt="" class="wp-image-40771" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Nomzamo2.png.png 928w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Nomzamo2.png-300x199.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Nomzamo2.png-600x398.png 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Nomzamo2.png-768x509.png 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 928px) 100vw, 928px" /><figcaption>Nomzamo Mbatha traveled to Kakuma on a United Nations mission in 2018. Picture: Supplied</figcaption></figure></div>



“I remember seeing furniture doors just piled up on the side
of the road and thought ‘whoa! I’ve never seen this’ and then I just remember
Kenya having lots and lots of bananas. 



“Because we were always on a bus, we didn’t get to see it
(Kenya). My misconception of it, as a child, was that there’s not much to do as
a tourist.”



In 2018, Mbatha was in Kenya again, flying first class on
Kenya Airways with a carry-on and two big bags. “I don’t know how to travel
light,” she confesses. 



She recalls there were times in the earlier years as a
traveler when she would pack everything, leave the house and get to the airport
only to realize she wasn’t carrying her passport. 



“So passport… that’s like your golden item! The number two [must-have item] I’d say is sneakers. It’s always great to have comfortable
sneakers so you’re able to walk around the city, around the towns and just be
comfortable. So always carry sneakers no matter what! 





<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="638" height="475" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Nomzamo5.png.png" alt="" class="wp-image-40774" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Nomzamo5.png.png 638w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Nomzamo5.png-300x223.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Nomzamo5.png-600x447.png 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 638px) 100vw, 638px" /><figcaption>Nomzamo Mbatha in Kenya. Picture: Supplied</figcaption></figure></div>



“Number three – I always have a nice little bag of small
decanted toiletries. I have like 20 different things that I use. 



“So when you’re traveling, especially long-haul flights, you
want to be able to have your [face] cream because you don’t want to end up
using what the airline gives you&#8230; 



“When I’m traveling and connecting flights, I always make
sure I go to the bathroom and use my products and keep my skin hydrated and
clean. 



“And, of course, the fourth must-have, is a book; it’s
always a great travel mate.” 



On her last trip to Kenya, Mbatha traveled with her manager
and they were scheduled to fly out to Kakuma on a United Nations mission,
however, she requested three days to be in Nairobi before the trip. 



“I really just wanted to experience it and see more of it.
Also, I was in a space where I hadn’t traveled in a while. 



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="927" height="615" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Nomzamo3.png.png" alt="" class="wp-image-40772" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Nomzamo3.png.png 927w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Nomzamo3.png-300x199.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Nomzamo3.png-600x398.png 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Nomzamo3.png-768x510.png 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 927px) 100vw, 927px" /><figcaption>Nomzamo Mbatha visited the K1 Flea Market in Kenya. Picture: Supplied</figcaption></figure></div>



&nbsp;“It completely
changed me. I went to the K1 Flea Market which is so amazing. Everybody has a
smile. Everybody is so welcoming. 



“I got to go to the Maasai Market which is absolutely
fantastic. And there is so much art and craft you can find there&#8230; And then
the fanciest restaurants; five-star restaurants they don’t tell you about, that
they don’t show you. The party scene in Kenya is amazing. And what I really
loved about Kenya is I felt completely safe.”



She then explored the Karura Forest, saved from
deforestation by conservationists led by the late Wangari Maathai (Nobel Peace
Prize laureate, leader of the Green Belt Movement, and environmental and
political activist). Karura presented the most memorable moments for Mbatha
while in Kenya.



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="462" height="616" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Nomzamo6.png.png" alt="" class="wp-image-40773" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Nomzamo6.png.png 462w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Nomzamo6.png-300x400.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Nomzamo6.png-225x300.png 225w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px" /><figcaption> Nomzamo Mbatha enjoys the meal at the K1 Flea Market in Kenya. Picture: Supplied </figcaption></figure></div>



“It was lush. And it was just inspiring to know that a
woman’s name was behind all of this. I just remember thinking how massive it
was. We just stood there and it was one of the best experiences of my life… it
was beautiful. For me, it was better than seeing the Eiffel Tower. It’s nothing
like you’ve ever seen.” 



While the visit to Karura Forest left Mbatha in awe, it also
taught her a valuable lesson. 



“It was emotional in the sense that there is so much we can
do for the planet. And it implores one to really do better in terms of our own
social responsibility when it comes to environmental sustainability.” 



<div class="wp-block-image"><figure class="aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="462" height="614" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Nomzamo8.png.png" alt="" class="wp-image-40775" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Nomzamo8.png.png 462w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Nomzamo8.png-300x399.png 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Nomzamo8.png-226x300.png 226w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 462px) 100vw, 462px" /><figcaption> Nomzamo Mbatha outside the K1 Flea Market in Kenya. Picture: Supplied </figcaption></figure></div>



Mbatha says the African continent has much to learn from
Kenya. 



“A lot of innovative businesses in Kenya [are] self-started.
The government of Kenya is very cognizant of the fact they are not going to
bring international brands. In fact, they empower local brands to start their
own businesses, down to potato crisps. It’s very motivating for people to have
the entrepreneurial spirit,” says the globetrotter in love with Africa.

Nomzamo9

Executive Travel: Nomzamo Mbatha’s Kenya

<h3>Wangari Maathai</h3>
<div id="attachment_231" style="width: 210px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-231" class="wp-image-231 size-medium" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Wanjira-011-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="300" />Wangari Maathai in Karura Forest which her mother helped save from bulldozer</div>
<h3>Kenyan Environmental and  Political Activist</h3>
It was Professor Wangari Maathai’s personality, anyway, to linger on the dark side, checking under every rock, determined to know the worst that may happen, so as not to be taken by surprise. This was largely instinctual, developed from years of battling the powerful and the mighty who dared disrespect the environment.
About a year before Wangari Maathai’s death in September 25, 2011 she was diagnosed with an aggressive strain of ovarian cancer, immediately put on medication and chemotherapy with the hope this combination could at least prolong her life. Her daughter, Wanjira Mathai, remembers the professor as a strong woman; a selfless person who was incapable of abandoning her passion, even as the energies of the day were abandoning her.
Speaking to Mathai, it turns out that the woman who convinced thousands to plant trees; blocked forest destruction and inspired millions of African girls to think big, worked during her cancer-ravaged final year as if it were another day at the office.
Chemotherapy would knock Maathai into misery, slow her down, but not deter her. The ecological warrior had a grand dream for the Green Belt Movement (GBM), a body she formed three decades ago to plant trees and help village women make a somewhat decent living.
“She slowed down deliberately because she had to take care of herself. There was an element of taking things a lot easier; resting a lot more and that was important,” says Mathai of her mother, her boss and her colleague at the GBM, where she is the head of international affairs.
Mathai, a holder of two masters degrees in public health and business administration from Emory University, and a close confidant of her mother, knows why she looked fit. Except for doctors, family and a few close friends, few knew she had cancer. Many where suprised when her death was announced on a chilly Monday morning.
“She was gifted,” says Mathai, explaining why her mother looked younger than a 71-year-old. “She had good genes. She was very active—a lot of people may not know that she exercised a lot; she walked a lot and she was very healthy—six in the morning, she was in a gymnasium almost every day.”
As early as April, Wangari Maathai approved a five-year-action-plan for GBM. Despite the cancer, she was very active in its initial implementation, according to GBM employees, who have now vowed to elevate GBM to new heights.
“Our singular plan is to implement that plan. That is what she endorsed; that is what she wanted us to do; and it is really clear it is very strong and basically it can be done by those of us who are there,” says Mathai, the second of the Wangari’s three children.
Since her death, she says: “There is a sense of loss and there also is a sense of resolve. People feel like we have to make her proud. And that we must.”
President Mwai Kibaki announced the plans to launch the Wangari Maathai Institute for Peace and Environmental Studies at the University of Nairobi in 2010.
Since the approval of the action plan, several co-workers said Maathai spent much time organizing meetings with various donor groups—her last international travel, Mathai says, was a trip they made to the French Development Agency conference in Paris.
“She was sick, but still she was fit enough to attend the conference,” Mathai explains in Karura Forest, a 1,400 hectare forest that her mother fought to protect from developers, who, with the government’s blessing, were about to take it.
“Her focus and her passion was the Green Belt Movement and the Wangari Maathai Institute. She spent a lot of time making sure that we had a complete strategic plan; we had a clear direction for the development of the institute. And as you know, in her wishes, she said she wanted the Wangari Maathai Institute to be her final resting place, so her ashes will be interred there when the institute is finished,” says the 40-year-old Mathai.
Millions across the world have come to respect Wangari Maathai and her boundless courage; through her daughter, I discovered a well of kindness and compassion; both for the environment and all those who inhabit it.
“Selflessness is such a rare thing. In leadership you need that; if you are going to make change you have to be selfless; it’s not about you,” ends Mathai.

Tag: Wangari Maathai

FORBES AFRICA SOCIAL MEDIA

‘My Mother’s Deep Sense Of Beauty And Wonder’: On Wangari Maathai, 20 Years Since Her Nobel Peace Prize

Executive Travel: Nomzamo Mbatha’s Kenya

“If you are going to make change you have to be selfless”