When women speak for Mother Nature

Held under the theme ‘Rangelands: Recognise. Respect. Restore.’, the global commemoration brought together diplomats, policymakers and environmental leaders to focus attention on ecosystems that cover nearly half of the earth’s surface and sustain billions of livelihoods.

These landscapes underpin food systems, biodiversity and climate resilience, yet they are increasingly threatened by drought, degradation and unsustainable land use.

Deputy President Kithure Kindiki represented the government at the high-level gathering, where powerful women shaped much of the conversation, grounding global commitments in lived experience and intergenerational responsibility.

Kilifi Deputy Governor Flora Mbetsa Chibule offered a grounded reflection from Kenya’s drylands, where climate change is not a future risk but a present reality. In arid and semi-arid regions, environmental stress is felt first at the household level.

Women walk longer distances in search of water during droughts, manage scarce food supplies, and absorb the social and economic shocks that follow failed harvests and degraded land.

UN Convention to Combat Desertification Executive Secretary Yasmine Fouad placed this experience within a broader historical and continental context.

She paid tribute to Nobel Peace Prize laureate Wangari Maathai, whose Green Belt Movement demonstrated that restoring trees was also about restoring dignity, agency and environmental consciousness in communities.

United Nations Environment Programme Executive Director Inger Andersen pointed to a younger generation carrying this legacy forward. She highlighted a spoken-word performance by a young girl, describing it as a powerful reminder that today’s decisions on land restoration will shape the world inherited by future generations. Environment The symbolism in Kilifi was clear and deliberate.

Women are disproportionately affected by environmental degradation, yet remain underrepresented in formal environmental decision-making spaces. Despite this, they continue to play a central role in sustaining ecosystems, managing resources and strengthening community resilience in the face of climate shocks.

Kilifi, therefore, reflected more than representation. It reflected leadership rooted in experience, responsibility and continuity. It showed that environmental stewardship is not confined to conference halls or policy documents, but is lived daily in homes, farms and communities.

When mothers speak for Mother Nature, they are not speaking in symbolism alone. They are speaking from the frontlines of survival, care and continuity. And in doing so, they remind the world that restoring rangelands is ultimately about restoring the balance between people, nature and the future itself.

As countries accelerate efforts to restore degraded landscapes, the lesson from Kilifi is not about replacing one voice with another. It is about recognising that effective restoration depends on inclusive leadership that reflects those most connected to the land.

The writer is a climate action enthusiast and a communications specialist at Windward Communications Consultancy.