Wangari Maathai, an inspiring Kenyan environmentalist died on September 25 2011. On World Environment Day in 1977 she planted the first trees on the outskirts of Nairobi, which marked the launch of a national movement to plant trees across Kenya and eventually across Africa.

Along the way she had to fight against constant discrimination by men (her first husband divorced her for being “too strong-minded a woman”), political attacks and imprisonment. In 2004 she became the first African woman and first environmentalist to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

This video clip is a great testament to her life – and an inspiration for us when we wonder what difference each of us can make.