Alice Wanjiru Mubia draws her inspiration from the popular hummingbird story that characterized some of the late noble peace prize laureate Prof Wangari Maathai’s speeches.
The 11 year old who prides herself for planting over 20,000 trees, attributes her drive to Maathai’s vision saying, “Footsteps are like a compass” in her quest of environmental conservation that begun at the tender age of 6.
As a scout leader and National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) ambassador, Alice is agitating for behavioral change among her peers through her campaign dubbed “Grow one tree on your birthday”.
Through the initiative, she aims to leverage birthday celebrations to drive rehabilitation of forests and increase tree cover.
As the world marks the wetlands day on February 2, Alice hopes that the national and county governments, conservationists, and communities work together to safeguard these vital ecosystems for future generations.
She opines that awareness, sustainable policies, and restoration efforts, can ensure wetlands continue to thrive and provide invaluable benefits to the planet.
Statistics indicate that wetlands are increasingly threatened by human activities such as urbanization, pollution, and climate change.
This year’s World Wetlands Day theme is “Protecting Wetlands for our common future”.
