• Deforestation affectsclimate change be-cause it releases thecarbon stored in theplantsandsoilsandal-tersthephysicalprop-erties of the surface(Balaet al.,2007).Trop-icalecosystemsarethemost productive, andchanges to them arelikelytohavethegreat-est impact on climatechange. Models pre-dictthattheir losswill

Reforestation, Afforestation, Deforestation,

Climate Change and Gender

haveaglobalwarmingeffectandexperimentssuggestthatafforestationprojectsinthetropicscouldhelpmitigateglobalwarmingsincetheyarethemosteffec-tivecarbonsinksintheshortterm(Balaet al.,2007;Malhiet al.,2002).Worldwide,womenhaveplayedanimportantroleinpreservingtropicalforests.Forexample,inZimbabwe,women’sgroups(overhalfofthe800,000familieslivingincommunalareasareheadedbywomen)manageforestresourceanddevelopmentprojectsthroughwoodlotownership,treeplantingandnurserydevelopment.

• Menandwomenoftenhavedifferentproductiveandreproductiveroleswithregardtoforestresourcemanagement.Theyplaydifferentpartsinplanting,protectingorcaringforseedlingsandsmalltrees,aswellasinplantingandmaintaininghome-steadwoodlotsandplantationsonpubliclands.Menaremorelikelytobeinvolvedinextractingtimberandnon-timberforestproducts(NTFPs)forcommercialpurposes.Womentypicallygatherforestproductsforfuel,fencing,foodforthefamily,fodderforlivestockandrawmaterialstoproducenaturalmedicines,allofwhichhelptoincreasefamilyincome.

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Lorena aguiLar, ariana araujo and andrea Quesada-aguiLar

• Since 2001, underthe Maya Nut Pro-gram supported byThe Equilibrium Fund,women inGuatemala,Nicaragua,ElSalvadorand Honduras haveplanted400,000MayaNut trees (Brosimumaliscastrum).TheEqui-libriumFundistryingtoparticipate in carbontrading with the USAand Europe to showhow specific projects

couldhelpimprovewomen’slives,adapttochangescausedbyclimatechangeandreducegreenhousegases(TheEquilibriumFund,2007).

• TheMamaWatotoWomen’sgroupinKenyawasformedin1990toaddressthescar-cityoffuelwoodandpovertyofruralwomen.Thisscarcityforcedwomentocollectwoodfromforestreserves,therebyexposingthemtolegalpenalties.Inresponse,thewomenestablished“women-madeforests”insectionswithintheirownfarms.Theafforestationprogrammeimprovedsoilfertility,reducedillegalharvesting,andincreasedthevegetationcoverintheKambiriregionthatcouldsequestercarbon(FAO,1994).

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• IntheUttarakhandregionoftheHimalayas,theChip-koMovementcompriseshundredsofdecentralizedand locally autonomous initiatives. Its leaders andactivistsareprimarilyvillagewomen.TheMovementdemonstrated that women can make a differencewhen protecting forests and developing afforesta-tionprojects.Theirafforestationprogrammenotonlyreducedlandslides,butalsosolvedtheproblemoffuel and fodder. Women looked after the trees socarefullythatthesurvivalratewasbetween60–80%(Joshi,2007).SomeoftheothermajorachievementsoftheChipkoMovementhavebeen:a15-yearbanongreenfellingintheHimalayanforestsinUttarPradesh;abanonclearfellingintheWesternGhatsandtheVindhyas;andgreaterpressureforanaturalresource

policythatismoresensitivetopeople’sneedsandecologicalrequirements.• InSudan,withthesupportofUNHCR,IUCNandFNC(ForestNationalCorpora-

tion)womenareplantinggardensandtreesaroundtheirhouses.Theseprovidethemwithshade,windbreaks,fuelwoodandfruit.Atthesametime,itgivesthemmoresecurity,astheydon’tneedtogosofartogettheirfuelwoodanymore.VeryoftenwomenarevictimsofassaultwhentheyhavetogofarawayfromtheirvillageorrefugeecampsinSudan,andhavingthetreescloseby,makestheirlivesbotheasierandsafer.

• InSouth-EastCameroon,whentheBakapeoplediscussedtheirvisionofthefu-ture,menandwomenturnedouttohavedifferentvisions.WomenwouldliketohavebiggercommunityforestssotheycanmanagetheirownforestsandharvestNTFPs–theyaretheoneswhoregularlygoandgatherfood,wildfruits,roots,wildyamsandalsorawmaterialsformakingcrafts/baskets/mats(allessentialfortheirlivelihoods).

• ThedistributionofeconomicincentivesachievedthroughREDD(reduceemissionsfromdeforestationandlanddegradation)orpaymentsforecosystemservices(PES)forcarbonstorageandnewcarbonsinksshouldbeequitableamongmenandwom-en.AnanalysisofseveralIndiaandNepalcommunityforestgroupshighlightedthefactthat,inmostcases,cashisnotdistributedequallyand fundsarecommonly invested inresourcesoractivitiesfrom which womenwere unlikely to benefit, such as club repair,purchasingcommunityutensils, rugs, drums,etc.(Agarwal,2002).

• In many cases, themarketpriceforahect-areofsequesteredcar-bonoffsetis50timesmorethanthepriceobtainedfromconvertingthathectaretootherlanduses(Chomitzet al.2006).Informingwomenaboutsuchresourcescouldhelpimprovetheirhouseholdincomesandallowthemtodecidewhichstrategiesaremostfavourablefortheirenvironmentandforthemselves.

• Women’sempowermentisnowbeinglinkedtoclimatechangesolutions.InNo-vember2006,Kenya’sGreenbeltMovement, foundedbyNobelPeaceLaureateWangariMaathai,andtheWorldBank’sCommunityDevelopmentCarbonFund,

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signedanemissionsreductionspurchaseagreementtoreforesttwomountainareasinKenya.Women’sgroupswillplantthousandsoftrees,anactivitythatwillalsoprovidepoorruralwomenwithasmallincomeandsomeeconomicindependence.Women’sempowerment through thisprocesswill alsocapture350,000 tonsofcarbondioxide,restoresoillosttoerosion,andsupportregularrainfallessentialtoKenya’sfarmersandhydro-electricpowerplants.

• Thelackofwomen’sparticipationintheforestryindustryhasproventohavedetri-mentaleffects.ReforestationprojectsinIndiaandNepalwithoutagenderperspec-tivefacedproblemswhenreplanting,protectingtheforestsandimplementingrulesthatprotectthereserves(Agarwal,2002).AnotherprojectthatfacedsimilarproblemswastheNoelKempffClimateActionProject.Thisprojectaimedtomeetconservation

needsandearncarboncredits.However,mostoftheirgoalswerenotachievedbecausethebenefits were inequi-table and there waslittle or no participa-tion at all of womenin the forestry team,conservation team,government technicalsupport,orcommunitycouncils(Boyd,2002).

Forestsarehometo300millionpeoplearoundtheworldandtheycontributetothelivelihoodsofmanyofthe1.2billionpeoplelivinginextremepoverty(womenconstitute70%ofthepoorworldwide).Forestsprovideglobalfoodsecurityandresources,food,fodder,fuelandmedicine.However,thewaypeopleuseandmanageforestsdependsonthesocio-economicandsocio-culturalenvironment,ageandgender(FAO,1989).

Forestecosystemsplayanimportantroleintheglobalcarboncycle.Forexample,reforestationandafforestationhavebothbeenintegratedasforestry-basedmitigationschemes into the international climatechange regime (i.e. theKyotoProtocol).Bothpracticesentailconvertingnon-forestedlandtoforestedlandthroughplanting,seedingand/orthepromotionofseedbanksandsources.Afforestationappliestoareasthathavenotbeenforestedforatleast50yearswhilereforestationappliestolandthatusedtobeforestedbutwasturnedovertoanotherlanduse.Nowadays,thereisadebateontheimportanceofaddressingthereductionofemissionsfromdeforestationandlanddegradation(REDD).Becauseitisestimatedthatclosetoonequarterofallgreenhouse

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gasemissionsareduetodeforestationandsimilartypesoflanddegradation,effectiveREDDstrategiescouldbeusedtopromotetheprotectionofcurrentforests.

Withinthecomplexityoftheservicesthatforestsprovideforclimatechangemiti-gation,itiscrucialtounderstandwomen’sroleintheseprocesses.Strategiesarenowturning to: understanding and taking into account the different benefits that women and menderivefromforestryservices;recognisinggenderdifferencesinaccessto,controland knowledge of forest resources; and identifying thesignificant differences in access of women and men to forest-relateddecisionmaking,institutions,andeconomicopportunities.

Whenhalfofthepopulationisnotincludedorispre-vented from participating in decisions, institutions, andprogrammes relating toclimatechangemitigation, theyareunlikelytofeel“ownership”offorestrysectorpolicies.Mitigation strategies represent a unique opportunity toincludewomeninforestryprogrammesandacknowledgethat gender relations will influence many aspects of for-estmanagementandgovernanceproposedforreducinggreenhousegases.

Recommendations

• InternationalnegotiationsorregimesinrelationtoREDDmustensurecompliancewithinternationalandnationalcommitmentsongenderequalityandequity,includ-ingtheConventionontheEliminationofAllFormsofDiscriminationagainstWomen(CEDAW).

• Fromtheonset,ensurefullparticipationandintegrationofwomen,fromlocalandindigenouscommunities,inpolicydesignprocesses(internationalandnational)aswellasinthebroad-scaleimplementationofREDD.

• Forestryprojectsusedtomitigateandadapttoclimatechangerequireagender-basedapproach that captures the socially-defined differences between women and men, i.e. gender-baseddifferencesinrolesandresponsibilities,problems,needsandpriori-ties,andknowledgeof,andaccesstoandcontroloverforestandtreeresources.

• Promotesystematicattentiontotheparticipationofwomeninforestrydevelopmentinpolicies,strategiesandcapacity-buildingeffortsrelatedtotheconservationandsustainabledevelopmentofforestsandtreesandtheiruse.

• There should be equitable access to, and distribution of, the economic benefits derived from forest services provided to mitigate climate change. Programmesshouldalsopromoteequalaccessofwomentolandownershipandotherresources

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necessaryforeffectivesocio-economicparticipation in forestmanagementandclimatemitigationstrategies(e.g.,land,capital,technicalassistance,technology,tools,equipment,marketsandtime).

• Afforestation,reforestation,or forestpreservationprojectsthatreceivepaymentforecosystemservices,suchascarbonsequestration,shouldmainstreamgender.Womenshouldbeincludedinthedesignandimplementationoftheprojects,aswell as in the distribution of benefits.

• Bothwomenandmenmustbetrainedinmethodstoincreasecarbonsequestrationthroughnewforestrytechnologies,includingnurserytechniques,siteselection,andselectionofspecies,landpreparation,planting,weeding,andmaintenance.

• Responsestoglobalclimatechangesshouldavoidanarrowcriterionthatleadstoenvironmentallyandsociallyharmfulconsequences.Theseresponsesshouldhavebroadgoalsthataimtoreduceclimaticchange,protectnaturalresources,improvesocialwell-being,promoteequality,andrecognisethatwomenarekeyagentsinclimatechangeprocesses.

Agarwal, B. (2002). Participatory Exclusions, Community Forestry, and Gender: An Analysis for South Asia and a Conceptual Framework. World Development 29(10): 1623–1648.

Bala, G. et al. (2007). Combined climate and carbon-cycle effects of large-scale deforestation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science 104(16): 6550–6555.

Boyd, E. (2002). The Noel Kempff project in Bolivia: gender, power, and decision-making in climate mitigation. Gender and Development 10(2): 70–77.

The Equilibrium Fund. (2007). Reforestation. http://www.theequi-libriumfund.org/page.cfm?pageid=5494

FAO. (1989). A field guide for project design and implemen-tation – Women in community forestry Department. Rome. Italy.

FAO. (1994). Afforestation initiative, Kakamega, Kenya. www.fao.org/SARD

Joshi, G. (2007). The Chipko movement and women. Peoples Union for Civil Liberties. www.pucl.org/from-archives/Gender/chipko.htm

Malhi, Y. et al. (2002). Forests, carbon and global climate. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London A 360: 1567–1591.

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Contact: Lorena Aguilar, Senior Gender Adviser. lorena.aguilar@iucn.org www.genderandenvironment.org