Green Belt Movement — Women-Led Reforestation and Environmental Governance, Kenya (1977–present)

The Green Belt Movement (GBM) was founded in 1977 by Professor Wangari Maathai under the National Council of Women of Kenya, starting with seven seedlings on World Environment Day. GBM recruited rural women to establish community tree nurseries, paying a small stipend per seedling that survived inspection.

The approach explicitly linked ecological restoration with peace, democratic rights, and women's empowerment — a rationale the Nobel Peace Prize Committee recognised in 2004 when it awarded Maathai the Peace Prize for work symbolising peace through environmental responsibility, sustainable development, and democracy.

Beyond tree planting, GBM invested in civic education and leadership training, equipping women with skills in forestry, food processing, beekeeping, and democratic governance. Through the Pan African Green Belt Network, the model was formally replicated in Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Over 47 years the model mobilised hundreds of thousands of women to plant more than 51 million trees, and over 30,000 women were trained. The EcoTipping Points Project conducted an independent in-depth case study documenting soil stabilisation, water-table recovery, and biodiversity restoration in GBM project areas.

After Maathai's death in 2011, GBM underwent governance restructuring and continues to operate. Current official figures cite over 510 million trees across Africa through direct and network activities, a figure the source text itself flags as warranting independent verification even as it indicates continued significant scale.