The African Union Commission has honored the late Nobel winner Prof Wangari Maathai

The African Union Commission has named the African Union gardens in front of the headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia after her.

The honor is symbolic in ensuring that the legacy of the late Nobel Laureate is sustained.

The AU declared this during the just-concluded 25th Summit that was held in Johannesburg, South Africa.

“The overall objective is to highlight the work and achievements of the late Prof Maathai and identify how best the AU can continue to commemorate and celebrate her life,” the delegates said.

The move to have Prof Wangari celebrated was fronted by Congo, whose delegates told the summit that there was a need to establish a living memory of the Nobel laureate at the headquarters.

She founded Green Belt Movement that encouraged women in rural Kenya to plant trees and conserve the environment.

The late Professor won the 2004 Nobel Laureate Peace Prize after decades of environmental and political activism to conserve forests in Kenya and beyond and was the first African woman to receive the coveted prize.

She will be remembered for her instrumental role in engaging women in rural areas of Kenya to plant and nurture trees, mainly through agro forestry.

The environmentalist introduced the idea of planting trees while serving in the National Council of Women in 1976, a concept she developed into the Green Belt Movement.

She assisted women in planting more than 20 million trees on their farms, in schools and church compounds.

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