On March 30, Parks & Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe joined Columbia University professors Gayatri Spivak and Kenneth Prewitt to honor Nobel Peace Prize laureate Dr. Wangari Maathai by planting a tree in her memory in Morningside Park. Dr. Maathai founded the Green Belt Movement in 1977 to plant trees across Kenya to fight erosion and to create firewood for fuel and jobs for women. Since then, the Movement has planted more than 30 million trees in Africa and has helped nearly 900,000 women while inspiring similar efforts in other African countries. In 2004, she became the first African woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace.