A group of Kenyan women, fighting for nature and gender equality, is portrayed by photographer Petra Kleis in the (POP-UP) exhibition WWF X ARKEN, created with support from Danida.

11 Kenyan women represent the face of change in a series of powerful portraits captured by photographer Petra Kleis for WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature). These women fight in their own ways for gender equality, their communities, and for the preservation and protection of nature, which they are deeply dependent on in all aspects of life.

They embody the truth that women are crucial in creating sustainable development for the climate and nature, but also economically and socially. Research shows that women’s involvement in green projects benefits not only nature and the climate but also local communities.

^{Photo: Petra Kleis for WWF}

Photographer Petra Kleis is known for her visually captivating portraits. In the portrait exhibition ‘The Face of Change: Women Fighting for Nature’, she closely follows the Kenyan women's fight, which is deeply rooted in nature. These women are not only dependent on nature for their daily survival, such as food, clean drinking water, and protection from climate change, but they are also more vulnerable than men to the consequences of the environmental and climate crisis.
The women’s work with nature made a profound impact on Petra Kleis during her journey to Kenya with WWF.
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“The portraits and the project are both a tribute to the Kenyan women who fight for their communities every single day, but also, in part, a challenge to previous views on development efforts. It is not us from the West who should save African women, on the contrary, we have much to learn from them and their approach to everything from eating habits, consumption, and their perspective on nature,” says Petra Kleis.

(POP-UP) WWF X ARKEN 19.06.25 – 03.08.25.

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^{Photo: Petra Kleis for WWF}