Wangari Maathai is the first African woman to win the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize. A tree planter turned politician, she founded Kenya 's Green Belt Movement and is Assistant Minister for Environment, Natural Resources and Wildlife. She has said, “When you start working with the environment seriously, the whole arena comes in human rights, women's rights, environmental rights, children's rights, you know, everybody's rights. Once you start making these linkages, you can no longer do just tree-planting.”