NYERI, KENYA—When her phone rang on October 8, Wangari Maathai wasn't expecting big news, but that's exactly what she got. The caller was from the Nobel Prize headquarters2 in Norway, and this announcement nearly knocked Maathai off her feet3: She had just won one of the world's most prestigious4 awards—the Nobel Peace Prize.
Cries of joy rang out in the streets of Maathai's hometown as women danced about in celebration5. Weeping tears of joy, Maathai, 64, knelt down and planted the seeds of a Nandi flame tree6 at the base of Mount Kenya. “It cannot get any better than this,” she said. “Maybe in heaven.”
Mother Nature's Helper
That wasn't the first that Maathai has planted. She has been planting seedlings7 for decades. She founded the Green Belt Movement, a massive ecological8 effort that has planted 30 million trees in Kenya and dozens of other African countries.
According to the Norwegian9 Nobel Prize Committee, Maathai has cultivated more than just trees—she's promoted peace by ensuring that there are enough natural resources so that people won't have to fight over them in the future.
“[Maathai's] approach10 to sustainable development11 in democracy, human rights and women's rights doesn't separate the issues but treats them as one interconnected12 problem,” the committee said. “She thinks globally and acts locally.”
Maathai is the first African woman to win a Nobel Peace Prize. She is the sixth African to win the award. She received a medal and $1.36 million in a ceremony.
For Maathai, the prize has reaffirmed13 the importance of her cause—protecting the environment14. “It's a matter of life and death for this country,” she said. “The Kenya forests are facing extinction15.
Root of the Problem
The Kenya forests weren't always in danger. When Maathai was a child, her hometown was full of lush16, green hills. She remembers drawing water from a spring, “fascinated by the way the clean, cool water pushed its way through the soft red clay17.” she told London's Independent. The area was so green that there was no word in the local language for desert.
Today, treeless tea plantations18 have replaced the green hills, and Maathai's spring has dried up. “I feel the tragedy under my feet,” she said. “Gulleys19 stare at me, telling the story of soil erosion20, unknown before. Hunger is on the faces of the people.”
Mining, logging, and development have swallowed21 Kenya's forests. Only 2 percent of the country's original tree cover remains. The deforestation22 isn't limited to Kenya—four-fifths of Africa's productive land may soon turn to desert.
Maathai refused to sit back and watch Kenya's forests shrink23. In 1977, she founded the Green Belt Movement. What started as a few seedlings in her backyard quickly turned into a nationwide effort with thousands of volunteers. Many are poor women who earn a small sum for every tree they plant that takes root.
The new trees help slow the area from turning into a desert，keeping the animals living environment intact, provides fuel, building materials, and food for future generations. Forests also absorb carbon dioxide24, a greenhouse gas25 that may cause global warming.
An Uphill Battle
Maathai has been compared to a tree—solid and unbowed, no matter how hard the wind blows. Growing up in Kenya's male-dominated society, the stubborn crusader26 faced strong opposition.
Maathai has spent her life challenging the limits placed on Kenyan women. She went to college and graduate school in the United States and returned to Kenya to become the first woman to head a department at a Kenyan university.
When she started her environmental campaign in the late 1970s, her unexpected outbursts took many Kenyans by surprise27. “It is unusual for a woman here to be very outspoken28,” said Gaitho, a Kenyan political columnist29. “[Maathai] is seen as a threat to male domination.”
For years, she battled former Kenyan president Daniel Arap Moi over the environment. Their struggle made international news in 1989, when Maathai forced the president to abandon plans to build a government building in a Nairobi30 park. The dispute got so heated that she fled to Tanzania after receiving death threats.
That wasn't the only time Maathai's life was in danger. In 1998, she and a few other Green Belt Movement members were severely beaten when they tried to plant trees in Karura Forest, on the outskirts31 of Nairobi. Afterward, Maathai declared from her hospital bed, “As soon as I recover, I shall return to Karura Forest, even if they bury me there.”
Seeds of Hope
Maathai's tireless efforts and successes have inspired countless32 Kenyan women. “When we were growing up, it was so hard for us girls who were clever to know what to do,” Lydia, a bank manager in Nairobi, told London's Independent. “Our parents encouraged us, but they were most concerned about how we would find husbands and have children. People like Wangari Maathai showed us that it was possible to fight for other things we believed were important.”
肯尼亚，奈立——(2004年)10月8日，旺加里·马塔伊的电话铃响了，她并没指望听到什么新闻头条，但迎接她的却正是特大新闻。来自挪威诺贝尔奖总部的电话向她宣布了一大喜讯，令她激动不已：她刚刚荣获世界上最具声望的大奖——诺贝尔和平奖。
顿时，欢声笑语响彻马塔伊家乡的大街小巷，妇女们载歌载舞以示庆祝。64岁的马塔伊流下了幸福的泪水。她跪倒在肯尼亚山的山脚下，种下了南迪凤凰树的种子。“再没有比这更好的了，”她说。“或许更好的在天堂。”
大自然的助手
那不是马塔伊种下的第一棵树。几十年来，她一直在种植树苗。她发起了城市绿化带运动，在肯尼亚以及其他十几个非洲国家种植了3千多万株树木，为保护非洲的生态环境付出了巨大的努力。
挪威诺贝尔奖委员会认为：马塔伊做的远不只是植树——她促进了和平：通过确保自然资源的充足富裕，人们未来才不至于为自然资源而彼此争斗。
“［马塔伊］为民主、人权和妇女权利的可持续发展做出了不懈的努力。她没有把这些问题截然分开，而是把它们视作一个互相关连的综合问题。”诺贝尔奖委员会认为，“她的行动着眼于地方，但思想却放眼全球。”
马塔伊是第一位获得诺贝尔和平奖的非洲妇女，也是获此殊荣的第6位非洲人。在诺贝尔奖颁奖仪式上，她获得一枚勋章及136万美元的奖金。
对马塔伊来说，诺贝尔和平奖的获得再次肯定了环境保护事业的重要性。她说：“对这个国家来说，环境保护是一个生死攸关的问题。肯尼亚的森林正濒临灭绝。”
问题的根源
肯尼亚的森林并不从来就处于危险之中。当马塔伊还是一个孩子时候，她的家乡到处都是郁郁葱葱的山丘。她回忆起自己从泉眼中取水时的情景，“清澈、凉爽的泉水从松软的红色粘土中冒出，令人心醉神迷。”她这样对伦敦《独立报》说。当时那个地区绿色葱茏，甚至在当地语言中根本找不到沙漠这个词。
如今，没有树木的茶园已经取代了绿色的山丘，而马塔伊的泉眼也早已干涸。“我觉得悲剧就在脚下，”她说。“古雷人注视着我，向我讲述从未有过的土壤侵蚀。饥饿写在每个人的脸上。”
采矿、伐木和开发大量吞噬着肯尼亚的森林。该国原生林覆盖面积只剩下2％。这种滥砍滥伐并不仅限于肯尼亚——非洲国家4/5的肥沃土地很快就会变成一片沙漠。
马塔伊不愿意袖手旁观，坐看肯尼亚的森林面积萎缩。1977年，她创立了绿化带运动。房前屋后种植几棵树苗很快发展成为全国性的植树运动，吸引了成千上万的志愿者。他们当中许多是贫穷的妇女，每种活一颗树，她们就可以得到一小笔报酬。
新种的树木使得该区域的沙漠化速度放缓，保护了动物的原生存环境，为子孙后代提供了燃料、建材和食物。森林还可以吸收二氧化碳，这可是一种会造成全球变暖的温室气体。
攻坚战
人们把马塔伊比作一棵树，无论风吹雨打，始终坚强不屈。由于生长在肯尼亚这样的男权社会里，马塔伊作为一名顽固的改革者，面临着强大的反对势力。
马塔伊毕生都在挑战强加于肯尼亚妇女身上的各种限制。她在美国完成了大学和研究生学业，回到了肯尼亚。在肯尼亚一所大学任系主任，是肯尼亚历史上第一位女系主任。
70年代后期，当她开始投身于环境保护运动的时候，她的这种令人意想不到的表现使得许多肯尼亚人大为吃惊。“在这里，一位妇女如此坦率直言非常罕见，”肯尼亚政治专栏作家盖伊托说，“［马塔伊］被视为对男权统治的威胁。”
她曾经多年就环境问题与肯尼亚前总统丹尼尔·阿拉普·莫伊较量过。1989年，马塔伊迫使总统放弃在内罗毕一家公园兴建政府大楼的计划，成为轰动一时的国际新闻。这场斗争十分激烈，她甚至受到生命威胁，最后不得不逃往坦桑尼亚。
马塔伊的生命受到威胁不单只一次。1998年，马塔伊与其他几名绿化带运动成员在内罗毕市郊的卡罗那森林植树时，遭人痛打。事后，马塔伊在医院的病床上发表声明：“一旦我的身体恢复，我将重返卡罗那森林，即便他们要把我埋在那儿。”
希望的种子
马塔伊的不懈努力和成功激励了无数肯尼亚妇女。“在我们的成长过程中，就是我们中间那些聪明的女孩也不知道该做些什么。”内罗毕一家银行经理莉迪亚告诉伦敦《独立报》，“父母鼓励我们，但是他们所关心的是我们如何能找到称心如意的丈夫，生儿育女。而像旺加里·马塔伊这样的人却向我们表明我们能够为自己认为重要的事业而奋斗。”
1. Kenyan adj. 肯尼亚的
2. headquarters n. 总部
3. off one's feet 控制不住自己
4. prestigious adj. 享有声望的，声望很高的
5. celebration n. 庆祝，庆典
6. flame tree凤凰树
7. seedling n. 树苗，秧苗
8. ecological adj. 生态学的
9. Norwegian adj. 挪威的
10. approach n. 接近；途径
11. sustainable development 可持续性发展
12. interconnected adj. 互相关联的，互相联系的
13. reaffirm v. 再次肯定
14. environment n. 环境 environmental adj.
15. extinction n. 消失，灭绝
16. lush adj. 茂盛的，葱翠的
17. soft clay 粘土
18. plantation n. 种植园，大农场
19. Gulley n. 古雷人
20. erosion n. 侵蚀，腐蚀
21. swallow ] v. 吞咽，吞噬
22. deforestation n. 采伐森林，森林砍伐
23. shrink v. 萎缩
24. carbon dioxide二氧化碳
25. greenhouse gas 温室气体
26. crusader n. 改革者
27. take somebody by surprise 使人大吃一惊
28. outspoken adj. 坦率直言的，直言不讳的
29. columnist n. 专栏作家
30. Nairobi n. 内罗毕(肯尼亚首都)
31. outskirts n. 边界，市郊
32. countless adj. 无数的，数不尽的