ITTC 54- Civil-society panel urges stronger role for women in forestry

 

 

Women’s role in the management of forests and other natural resources can no longer be forgotten or dismissed, said Rosalie Matondo, Minister of Forest Economy in the Republic of the Congo, in a video presented at a panel discussion on women, forestry and ITTO that took place today at the 54th session of International Tropical Timber Council.

 

“We must not forget that women represent more than half the population of our planet Earth,” said Mme Matondo. “Today, more than ever, we must opt ​​for an inclusive management of natural resources, taking into account all actors, in community forests, around logging concessions or in biodiversity conservation concessions.”

 

“The principle of the development of these concessions and forest certification are guarantees for … the taking into account of the rural communities and the autochthonous populations in the sharing of the profits related to the exploitation of the forest resources and, at this moment, women can no longer be forgotten or dismissed,” she said.

 

Another member of the panel, Cécile Bibiane Njebet, President of the African Women’s Network for Community Management of Forests, said women are at the bottom of a hierarchical pyramid in forestry—they are overrepresented as small-scale forest management operators but hugely underrepresented as supervisors, coordinators and owners.

 

“Women have very limited access and control over forest resources, land, technology, financial resources, training, and information. They also lack awareness of their rights,” said Ms Njebet. “This needs to change.”

 

Among other things, Ms Njebet recommended that Council members encourage their government agencies to use ITTO’s recently adopted Policy Guidelines on Gender Equality and Empowering Women to link forestry and gender equality with Sustainable Development Goal 5 on gender equality and with other United Nations mechanisms on women’s empowerment.

 

Delphine Ahoussi, president of MALEBI, a women’s group in Côte d’Ivoire, described how an ITTO project in communities living near the Ahua gazetted forest had enabled women to restore degraded forest land through agroforestry, thereby increasing forest cover; improving food security; and reducing poverty among the local communities. Council members watched a recently produced video of the project.

 

Adi Estela Lazos Ruiz talked about a process in the Mexican municipality of Jamapa, Mexico, assisted by an ITTO project, to increase women’s participation in the formal forest sector.

 

“Knowing the importance of forest ecosystem services and of the active participation of the population to maintain them is essential, but it is not enough in the long run,” she said.

 

“Women and men need empowerment to propel themselves to action. Women are usually the heart of the families, keeping the family together and educating the children, so working with women is a way to community transformation.”

 

Francois van der Ven described her pathway into forestry, first in Belgium and then Africa.

 

“When you’re a woman in the timber trade, you have to know your business inside and out,” she said. She is now head of the Industrial Forestry Trade Union in Gabon.

 

Finally, Jennifer Conje from the US Forest Service said gender issues in forestry were not specific to tropical developing countries but existed in developed countries as well. She described the current US Forest Service initiative, “Stand Up For Each Other”, which is aimed at reminding everyone of their responsibility to protect one another from bullying, harassment and retaliation of any kind.

 

Read more...

Go back

CBFP News

WWF: Rainforest deforestation more than doubled under cover of coronavirus -DW

Tropical rainforests shrank by 6,500 square kilometers in March — an area seven times the size of Berlin. Criminal groups are taking advantage of the pandemic and the unemployed are getting desperate, the WWF said.

Read more …

Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park Monthly update April 2020

"At a time when many countries are beginning their gradual deconfinement and when there is a glimmer of hope on the horizon of returning to normal life, I wanted to share with you some good news that also fills us with hope for the future of the Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park."

Read more …

Resources and follow-up from the virtual FAO-EcoAgriculture Partners Roundtable

Last April 30th FAO and EcoAgriculture Partners organized a virtual Roundtable on Territorial Perspectives for Development, in which over 170 people participated.

Read more …

ATIBT -CBFP: Private Sector mobilized around the CBFP Facilitator of the Federal Republic of Germany

ATIBT co-facilitated the mobilization of the private sector of the timber sector to participate in the first meeting of the private sector college of Congo Basin Forest Partnership with the new facilitator Dr Christian Ruck and his team German Facilitation.

Read more …

Development and institutionalization of a PAFC certification system for the Congo basin: opening of the second public consultation on Sustainable Forest Management Certification Standard, 23 May 2020 - 22 June 2020

This second public consultation will be open for a period of 30 days from tomorrow Saturday the 23rd of May 2020 and will be closed on Monday the 22nd of June 2020. The public consultation is open to all stakeholders of forest management in the Congo Basin interested in participating to the PAFC Congo Basin certification standards development process.

Read more …

Forest defenders on the COVID-19 frontline stand ready to assist the global EU response – Fern

These efforts go hand in hand with ensuring continued responsible management of natural resources and preventing unsustainably and illegally sourced forest commodities. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, forest-monitoring organisations Observatoire de la Gouvernance Forestière (OGF) and Réseau des observateurs indépendants des ressources naturelles (RENOI) are set to carry out COVID awareness-raising in at-risk forest areas, and will also assess COVID’s impact on forest management and governance commitments under the Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI). Across the Congo Basin, fears that a proper lack of oversight may put forests and forest peoples in danger are looming despite emerging initiatives.

Read more …

22 May 2020 International Day for Biological Diversity

The theme of the 2020 International Day for Biological Diversity is “Our Solutions are in Nature”. It shows that "Biodiversity remains the answer to a number of sustainable development challenges that we all face. From nature-based solutions to climate, to food and water security, and sustainable livelihoods, biodiversity remains the basis for a sustainable future."

Read more …

CBFP News Archive

2024

There are no news items for this period.