UN deputy secretary general celebrates Wangari Maathai day

United Nations deputy secretary-general Amina J. Mohammed has marked the Wangari Mathai Day with a message on the need to care for the environment.

The Wangari Maathai Day, also known as Africa Environment Day, is celebrated in honour of the late Nobel Laureate’s legacy in nature conservancy

In a statement on Thursday over the day, Amina called for the protection of the environment as a way of preserving the future generation.

“We have to trust and empower the next generation of environmental protection warriors. The world can learn so much from this group of students in Nairobi who are working to beat plastic pollution in their communities," Amina tweeted.

She led an environmental initiative at Kawangware primary school earlier in the week where the call for preserving the environment was intensified.

Amina and members from UNEP and Lavington Eco Rotary Club on Tuesday engaged in ecological restoration activities such as planting trees and visiting Kirichwa river in Kawangware, one of the main tributaries of the Nairobi River.

The river is usually cleaned by students from Kawangware primary school in an effort to preserve and protect nature by ridding the community of plastic pollution.

Members of the Eco Club in Kawangware Primary School including students and members of the community were euphoric when she and other other members from UNEP graced the event.

The students were particularly inspired to dream big in their career aspirations while safeguarding nature.

A beautiful mural, done by a group of young talented artists from Kenyatta University known as Mia Nane, was put up with a painting of Wangari Maathai on one of the walls in the school to remind students to protect the environment.

“Look after the earth and it will look after you, destroy the earth and it will destroy you,” read the art.

Wangari Maathai day is celebrated annually on March 3, to honour and pay tribute to the late Wangari Maathai’s life and work towards environmental conservation and sustainable development in Africa.

The African Union adopted this decision in January 2012.