Environment Liasion Centre (ELC)
In 1972, while Wangari Maathai was serving as the director of the Kenyan Red Cross Society, a big change in the environmental movement in Kenya occurred.
Imgsrc: http://www.endeva.org/partner/unep
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) was being established in Nairobi as a result of the United Nations Conference on Human Environment held in Stockholm in the same year. During the Conference, it was argued that Northern-industrialised countries were affecting the development of Africa with the anti-development policies and conditions that were introduced.
UNEP is an agency of United Nations and coordinates its environmental activities, assisting developing countries in implementing environmentally sound policies and practices. (Wikipedia, 2017)
In an effort to ensure that the agreements made during the Conference were kept, the Environment Liaison Centre was established. In 1974, Wangari Maathai was invited as a board member of the ELC and later on became the Chairman of the Board.
Environment Liaison Center International (ELCI) is a Non Governmental membership Organization that emerged and was established from the first Earth Summit in Stockholm in 1972. This initiative was aimed at monitoring the activities of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and help Non Governmental Organizations and UNEP work more effectively. (Commonwealth NGOs related to forestry)
Her involvement in ELC started her affiliation with the environment and with her background as a biological scientist and a daughter of a farmer, she began her commitment to the environment, becoming the strong environmental advocate we know of her today.