Lorena aguiLar, ariana araujo and andrea Quesada …...women have played an important role in...
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• Deforestation affects climate change be- cause it releases the carbon stored in the plants and soils and al- ters the physical prop- erties of the surface (Bala et al., 2007). Trop- ical ecosystems are the most productive, and changes to them are likely to have the great- est impact on climate change. Models pre- dict that their loss will Reforestation, Afforestation, Deforestation, Climate Change and Gender have a global warming effect and experiments suggest that afforestation projects in the tropics could help mitigate global warming since they are the most effec- tive carbon sinks in the short term (Bala et al ., 2007; Malhi et al., 2002). Worldwide, women have played an important role in preserving tropical forests. For example, in Zimbabwe, women’s groups (over half of the 800,000 families living in communal areas are headed by women) manage forest resource and development projects through woodlot ownership, tree planting and nursery development. • Men and women often have different productive and reproductive roles with regard to forest resource management. They play different parts in planting, protecting or caring for seedlings and small trees, as well as in planting and maintaining home- stead woodlots and plantations on public lands. Men are more likely to be involved in extracting timber and non-timber forest products (NTFPs) for commercial purposes. Women typically gather forest products for fuel, fencing, food for the family, fodder for livestock and raw materials to produce natural medicines, all of which help to increase family income. PHOTO: AGNI BOEDHITHARTONO LORENA AGUILAR, ARIANA ARAUJO AND ANDREA QUESADA-AGUILAR
Transcript of Lorena aguiLar, ariana araujo and andrea Quesada …...women have played an important role in...
• 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. [email protected] www.genderandenvironment.org
