"It's the little things citizens do. That's what will make the difference. My little thing is planting trees"

So says Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai, whose vision and energy has led the planting of billions of trees across the world.

Wangari has been a heroine of mine since I heard her give a speech at the Royal Geographical Society 5 years ago. I was carried away by her energy, life force and sheer good heartedness - despite my short attention span I could have listened to her for hours. This most fearless and courageous lady has endured persecutions, arrest, imprisonment and hunger strike but instead of putting her feet up now she is in her seventieth year (though she looks years younger) Wangari is now leading the fight to save the world’s second largest forest, in Congo.

`Politicians everywhere are putting immediate needs ahead of the long term. We must appeal not just to their heads, but to their hearts. I can only see things getting worse if we do nothing’.

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