In honor of April, in honor of women, in honor of the environment-- here are four women that are taking care of mother Earth.

1. Vandana Shiva (b. 1952)

Shiva said, “Uniformity is not nature’s way, diversity is nature’s way.” In her book, Staying Alive: Women, Ecology, and Development written in 1988 she discusses the importance of bringing back traditional local practices. She values changing our perspective in order to understand our place in the world.

2. Marjory Stoneman Douglas (1890-1998)

Ever wonder why the Everglades is probably one of the most respected wetlands in America? It’s because of this woman. Without her vision of this area from an ecological perspective, it would have been filled in and or used as a dump yard. She wrote a book in 1947, The Everglades: River of Grass that was often compared to Rachel Carson’s The Silent Spring.

3. Rachel Carson (1907-1964)

Carson could be considered as the mother of the modern environmental movement in relation to health. Through her book The Silent Spring, she provided a simple yet educated explanation of the effects of synthetic pesticides. Her novel is one of the most influential works of the twentieth century.

4. Wangari Maathai (1940 – 2011)

Maathai, from Kenya, founded Green Belt Movement in order to teach Kenyan woman how to plant new trees in places that were effected by deforestation. They also continued to educate woman to use the land in a sustainable manner. As a result, they have trained 30,000 women and planted more than 51 million trees. Maathai was the first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004.

For more: http://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=11863