The Green Belt Movement has influenced Kenya and the international community immensely with the sheer amount of accomplishments and milestones it has reached. As it aided in the rapid growth of the environmental nonprofit (NGO) sector in Kenya, it simultaneously rallied the public’s support and built a greater awareness and action platform from women’s rights and environmental justice.
In 1989 the GBM slowly started to shift into advocacy role when the Kenyan Government declared its plans to build a 60 story skyscraper and 30-foot statue in the Capital’s Uhuru Park. Maathai lobbied, wrote letters in opposition, and reached out for international support. She used her “international political alliances” to pressure the government to halt the project. After a long battle with hostile backlash, the donor community had helped Maathai gain victory.
As the movement transitioned into an advocacy role it started demanding higher political accountability and democratic space, along with fighting against and calling an end to land grabbing, deforestation, and corruption.
In 1992 GBM established the Pan-African Green Belt Movement after the United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. This organization helped spread the GBM’s organizational framework and agenda to environmentalists in other sub-saharan countries, under the guidance of Wangari Maathai.
The group formed the Community Empowerment and Education program that hosts seminars related to civic and environmental education. Teaching Kenyans how to properly invest, grow seedlings, and educate others in their community, spreading the knowledge.
Peace Tent Initiative was created in 2007 to campaign on behalf of political prisoners and against politically motivated ethnic violence. In 2012 it was relaunched to promote peace throughout Kenya and Africa, advocating for peace studies education and pledging to commit to peace in Kenya.
Upheld the organization’s mission and vision throughout multiple government corruption scandals and failure to comply with development and structural reforms and policies was perhaps the biggest accomplishment of the movement. The GMB has recently engaged in other work related to its goals like:
- Established a working relationship with the Government of Kenya to combat climate change. Working with the REDD+ group to carry out carbon projects and activities.
- Partnered with the United Nations Environmental Programme in its Billion Tree Campaign.
- Successfully campaigned against manufacturing and distributing thin, one-time use, plastic bags.
- Supports over 5,000 community tree nursery groups.
- Successfully created over 6,500 tree planting sites in critical watershed locations in Kenya.
Since 1978 the Green Belt Movement has planted over 51 million trees across Kenya.