Wangari Maathai: A life in pictures

[CNN]

Kenyan environmentalist and human rights activist, Wangari Maathai has died at the age of 71




Maathai blazed many trails throughout her life.She was the first woman in East and Central Africa to earn a doctorate degree and in 2002 was elected to Kenya's parliament with 98 percent of the vote.


In 2004, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts to promote sustainable development, democracy and peace.


Wangari was the first African woman to win the Nobel prize but followed previous winners from the continent such as Nelson Mandela.


Maathai was famed for her commitment to environmental causes. Here she confronts hired security guards in Kenya aiming to prevent her organization, the Green Belt Movement from planting trees


She was also committed to the cause of reducing poverty and took part in the Live 8 campaign alongside rock superstars such as Bob Geldof and Bono.


Wangari Maathai plants a tree in Nairobi 2006 with the visiting --then Senator for the state of Illinois -- Barack Obama.




Receiving the Chairman's award alongside fellow environmental campaigner and Nobel Prize Winner, Al Gore at the NAACP Image Awards in 2009. Mathai is survived by her three children and grandaughter.

CNN