It takes a strong person to stand up to the iron regime of Kenya's President Moi, and Wangari Maathai, 58, fits the bill. An anatomy professor at the University of Nairobi and the first Kenyan woman to receive a Ph.D., she founded the women's Green Belt movement, which has planted 7 million trees in Kenya and inspired similar efforts around the globe. In 1989 her protests forced Moi to abandon a plan to erect a 62-story office tower in a Nairobi park. Once Maathai was clubbed unconscious by police. Another time she was arrested and placed overnight in a jail cell with no mattress. Through the years, her courage has earned her environmental awards from countries all over the world.

Her latest battle has brought her powerful new allies, and no one seems to care whether she encouraged tactics like the burning of the bulldozers or overzealous followers were acting on their own. Said U.N.E.P. executive director Klaus Toepfer: "Karura Forest is a precious natural resource that the city cannot afford to lose. The destruction of this valuable ecosystem will have serious environmental implications." U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan condemned the recent attack on Maathai, praising her role as an environmentalist. Unless Karura Forest is restored, the U.N. may move U.N.E.P. from Kenya.

The housing project that spawned the protest is expected to collapse, since most people rich enough to buy or rent homes in the proposed development would now be embarrassed to do so. U.N.E.P. staffers are certainly no longer on the list of potential tenants. Vows Maathai: "We are not going to allow any development in Karura. If any building takes place, it will be over our dead bodies."