Wangari Maathai, who died after a long struggle with cancer, won the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize for her reforestation work in her native Kenya, the first African woman, the first Kenyan and the first environmentalist to receive this honour. Her organisation has planted some 40 million trees across Africa. Photo: AP
In this August 28, 2006 photo Wangari Maathai is seen with U.S. President Barack Obama in Nairobi. Maathai first latched on to the idea of widespread tree planting while serving as the chairwoman of the National Council of Women in Kenya during the 1980s. Photo: AP
One of Kenya's most recognizable women, Maathai won the Nobel Prize for combining science and social activism. Through her work in the Green Belt Movement over 30 years, she mobilised poor women to plant 30 million trees. Photo: AP
In this February 17, 2005 photo, Wangari Maathai plants a tree in in Aichi, Japan. She demonstrated the importance of recognising the contributions that women can make and allowed them the open space to do so. Photo: AP
In this June 9, 2010 photo, U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden is seen greeting Wangari Maathai at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre, Nairobi. Maathai showed the world how important it is to have and demonstrate courage. The values she had for justice and civil liberties and what she believed were the obligations of civil society and government. Photo: AP
In this December 10, 2004 photo Wangari Maathai holds her Nobel Peace Prize in the Oslo City Hall, Norway. In recognizing Maathai, the Nobel committee said that she had stood up to an oppressive regime and that her unique forms of action have contributed to drawing attention to political oppression. Photo: AP
In this November 19, 2007 photo, Sonia Gandhi, chairperson of the Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust is seen with Wangari Maathai, who was presented with the Indira Gandhi Peace Prize at the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Photo: S. Subramanium
President Pratibha Patil presents the Indira Gandhi Peace Prize to Wangari Maathai as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi look on. Photo: S. Subramanium
In this March 23, 2007 photo President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam presents the Jawaharlal Nehru Award to Wangari Maathai . Photo: V. Sudershan