Bettymosikhali Karanja

Kenyan environmentalist and social entrepreneur who pioneered community-led forest restoration in Africa

Bettymosikhali Karanja (b. 1985) is a visionary environmentalist and social entrepreneur from Kenya whose work has fundamentally transformed approaches to forest conservation in East Africa. Through her organization Green Grass Initiative, she developed the groundbreaking 'Community Carbon Credit' model that empowers rural communities to directly benefit from reforestation efforts. This innovative approach combines traditional ecological knowledge with modern carbon trading mechanisms, creating sustainable income streams for over 150,000 households while sequestering 2.3 million tons of CO2 annually.

Karanja's methodology was first implemented in the Aberdare Range in 2012, where she trained local women to become lead reforestation technicians. By 2020, the program had expanded to six countries across the continent, with measurable success in reversing deforestation rates by 40% in project areas. Her peer-reviewed research on agroforestry systems has become a cornerstone for UN Environment Programme guidelines.

What makes Karanja truly transformative is her integration of cultural preservation with ecological restoration. She revived the Kikuyu tradition of 'muthirigu' seed banks, creating modern seed libraries that now store over 3,000 indigenous tree species. This dual focus on biodiversity and community sovereignty has inspired similar programs in Madagascar and the Amazon basin.