The Seven Trees That Became a Forest

In 1977, Wangari Maathai knelt in the red soil of her backyard in Nairobi, Kenya, and planted seven trees. It was a modest act — almost absurd in its smallness — against the vast deforestation stripping her homeland bare. Streams were drying up. Topsoil blew away like dust. Women walked miles for firewood and clean water. But those seven seedlings were a trickle that refused to stay small.…