Books about Wangari from Amazon.com

Unbowed: A Memoir (Vintage)
In Unbowed, Nobel Prize winner Wangari Maathai recounts her extraordinary journey from her childhood in rural Kenya to the world stage. When Maathai founded the Green Belt Movement in 1977, she began a vital poor people’s environmental movement, focused on the empowerment of women, that soon spread across Africa. Persevering through run-ins with the Kenyan government and personal losses, and jailed and beaten on numerous occasions, Maathai continued to fight tirelessly to save Kenya’s forests and to restore democracy to her beloved country. Infused with her unique luminosity of spirit, Wangari Maathai’s remarkable story of courage, faith, and the power of persistence is destined to inspire generations to come..
Price: $8.53 [Notify me when price goes down.]


Wangari's Trees of Peace: A True Story from Africa

As a young girl growing up in Kenya, Wangari was surrounded by trees. But years later when she returns home, she is shocked to see whole forests being cut down, and she knows that soon all the trees will be destroyed. So Wangari decides to do something—and starts by planting nine seedlings in her own backyard. And as they grow, so do her plans. . . .

         This true story of Wangari Maathai, environmentalist and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, is a shining example of how one woman’s passion, vision, and determination inspired great change.

         Includes an author’s note.

This book was printed on 100% recycled paper with 50% postconsumer waste.

 

 

(20081101).
Price: $11.35 [Notify me when price goes down.]


The Man Who Planted Trees
Jean Giono’s extraordinary fable brings to life a shepherd who plants one hundred acorns a day for thirty years. The shepherd’s tireless efforts transform the countryside, revitalize his community, and teach us about hope, humanity, and our own ability to create change in the world.
This special twentieth anniversary edition of The Man Who Planted Trees includes an inspiring foreword by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Wangari Maathai, whose Green Belt Movement has planted millions of trees and brought new hope to women and families in Kenya. The new afterword by TreePeople founder Andy Lipkis tells his own true story of planting trees in the unlikely ecosystems of Los Angeles, and provides practical resources for taking action in our communities. This edition is printed on 100 percent recycled paper..
Price: $5.27 [Notify me when price goes down.]


The Earth Charter in Action: Toward a Sustainable World (Municipal Capacity Building series)
"This will be a book to be proud of!"—Ruud Lubbers

· First book on the Earth Charter
· World famous authors
· Available in English and Spanish
· Large, full-color book

The Earth Charter is an inspiring declaration of shared ethical principles. It arises from diverse sources--the wisdom of indigenous peoples, international law, contemporary science, and philosophical and faith traditions. It is an integrated vision of caring for all life, of universal human rights, of economic justice, and of the creation of a culture of peace. The Earth Charter in Action is a collection of over seventy thematic and descriptive essays inspired by Earth Charter, and demonstrating the rich diversity of its uses. It points toward the many possibilities of future utilization, including its ability to bridge the Islamic and Christian worlds and to work across the divide between the northern and southern hemispheres.

Well-known contributors include Homero Aridjis, A. T. Ariyaratne, Leonardo Boff, Kamla Chowdhry, Jane Goodall, Yolanda Kakabadse, Ruud Lubbers, Federico Mayor, Steven C. Rockefeller, and Erna Witoelar. Contributors are practitioners, experts, and Earth Charter activists from around the world. There is a special emphasis on contributions from youth. Includes an afterword by Princess Basma Bint Talal and 75 full-color illustrations.

This book is published in cooperation with Earth Charter International, Costa Rica, and the NCDO, The Netherlands..
Price: $32.85 [Notify me when price goes down.]


The Green Belt Movement: Sharing the Approach and the Experience
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..
Price: $6.87 [Notify me when price goes down.]



The Man Who Planted Trees
Twenty years ago Chelsea Green published the first trade edition of The Man Who Planted Trees, a timeless eco-fable about what one person can do to restore the earth. The hero of the story, Elzéard Bouffier, spent his life planting one hundred acorns a day in a desolate, barren section of Provence in the south of France. The result was a total transformation of the landscape-from one devoid of life, with miserable, contentious inhabitants, to one filled with the scent of flowers, the songs of birds, and fresh, flowing water.
Since our first publication, the book has sold over a quarter of a million copies and inspired countless numbers of people around the world to take action and plant trees. On National Arbor Day, April 29, 2005, Chelsea Green is releasing a special twentieth anniversary edition with a new foreword by Wangari Maathai, winner of the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize and founder of the African Green Belt Movement..
Price: $17.40 [Notify me when price goes down.]


Flight of the Hummingbird: A Parable for the Environment
Hummingbirds have long been a symbol of wisdom and courage In this charming story, a hummingbird makes a valiant effort to put out a raging fire that threatens her forest home — trip after trip, her beak is filled each time with just a drop of water. Her efforts show her woodland companions that doing something — anything — is better than doing nothing at all. The hummingbird parable, which originates with the Quechuan people of South America, has become a talisman for environmentalists and activists worldwide committed to making meaningful change. This retelling, enlivened by Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas’ fabulous Haida-manga illustrations, is suitable for all ages of would-be activists. Although environmental responsibility often seems like an overwhelming task, The Flight of the Hummingbird shows how easy it is to start and how great the effect could be if everyone just did what they could.
.
Price: $5.85 [Notify me when price goes down.]


<< walter savage landor



Trademarks are property of the Trademark Owners.
Copyright 1998-2007 Real Open Organization, Kansas City, Missouri, USA