NaijaAgroNet:
With estimated 1,000 guests in attendance including the
African Union Commissioner, Cabinet Secretaries, the United Nations and members
of the international community. Information made available to NaijaAgroNet revealed that this
year’s celebration highlighted the role of women in sustainable natural
resource management and the fight against wildlife crime.
The festival, NaijaAgroNet
learnt, is seen as an opportunity for more Kenyans to learn about wildlife
through music, theatre, and debate—and the importance of ending a US$213
billion illicit trade that includes elephant poaching, great ape theft and the
illegal transport of timber.
In another
development, in celebration of the life and work of Wangari Maathai, Africa's
first female Nobel laureate, a champion of grassroots environmental activism
and founder of the Green Belt Movement, special emphasis will this year be
placed on the importance of empowering women in sustainable natural resource
management, NaijaAgroNet gathered.
As a mark of honour, a one-day Regional Forum on Women and
Environment will be held on the 4 March in honour of Wangari Maathai at The
World Agroforestry Centre Headquarters in Nairobi, which will feature expert
panel discussions on several gender-related themes, including: gender equality
in Africa, and the impact of climate change and desertification on women and
their response in addressing the challenges.
NaijaAgroNet
recalls that Professor Maathai was the inspiration for the Billion Tree
Campaign launched by United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in 2006, which
inspired the planting of 12.5 billion trees worldwide, and is now run by the
Plant for the Planet Foundation
Cyriacus Nnaji/GEE
... Linking agrobiz, sustainable environs, people & technology
Pix: Prof. (Mrs) Wangari Maathai
