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The life of Wangari Muta Maathai (1940–2011) was strongly shaped by her rural environment, missionary education, and exposure to university education in the United States and Germany. Her interactions with other women—her mother, teachers, and grassroots women—also had a great impact on her work and commitment. In the midst of enormous challenges and obstacles, she created a formidable Green Belt Movement (GBM) to empower grassroots women. By mobilizing women to plant and care for trees, Maathai changed the thinking and practices of conserving the environment at a time when dominant global thinking on the environment and women’s role in society was grappling for transformation. Hence the dynamics of local and international forces coalesced in the work of the GBM. Local experiences also infused global thinking and appreciation of struggles for democratic governance, peace, and sustainable development. Consequently, Professor Maathai’s ingenuity and persistence were widely recognized and honored, and earned her the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004.

The environmental history of Madagascar traces the effects of climate change and human activity on landscapes and biodiversity as well as the ways societies have adapted to their evolving material conditions. Drawing from diverse fields such as archaeology, history, sociocultural anthropology, ecological sciences, linguistics, agriculture, archaeobotany, and genetics, the historiography of human–environment interaction has been rich and multifaceted. While disagreements over the interpretation of findings have been inherent to the production of historical knowledge, corroborative evidence across multiple disciplines has established a generally accepted chronology of environmental change. Periodically, however, new discoveries and advancements in dating technology have reignited debates. Environmental history encompasses not only the tangible changes to the biogeographical environment but also the evolution of ideas about the environment itself. Debates surrounding Madagascar’s precolonial past have revolved around several key themes, including the origins and arrival dates of the earliest settlers, the extent of their overlap with declining megafaunal populations, and the composition of the island’s prehistoric land cover. This article highlights dominant themes and debates in the environmental history of Madagascar.