Gender bias affects forests worldwide

Gender biases persist in forestry research and practice. These biases result in reduced scientific rigor and inequitable, ineffective, and less efficient policies, programs, and interventions. Drawing from a two-volume collection of current and classic analyses on gender in forests, we outline five persistent and inter-related themes: gendered governance, tree tenure, forest spaces, division of labor, and ecological knowledge. Each emerges across geographic regions in the northern and southern hemisphere and reflects inequities in women’s and men’s ability to make decisions about and benefit from trees, forests, and their products. Women’s ability to participate in community-based forest governance is typically less than men’s, causing concern for social equity and forest stewardship. Women’s access to trees and their products is commonly more limited than men’s, and mediated by their relationship with their male counterparts. Spatial patterns of forest use reflect gender norms and taboos, and men’s greater access to transportation. The division of labor results in gender specialization in the collection of forest products, with variations in gender roles across regions. All these gender differences result in ecological knowledge that is distinct but also complementary and shifting across the genders. The ways gender plays out in relation to each theme may vary across cultures and contexts, but the influence of gender, which intersects with other factors of social differentiation in shaping forest landscapes, is global

Exploring gender and forest, tree and agroforestry value chains: Evidence and lessons from a systematic review

This systematic review of literature on gender and value chains of forest, tree and agroforestry (FTA) products examined gender differences and inequalities in FTA value chains, factors that influence these differences, and interventions to foster greater gender equity. There is limited information available on gender in FTA value chains, and a strong bias in the literature towards African countries. Gender differences in participation mainly owe to social-cultural factors, including gendered access rights, and to the physical nature of value chain activities. Cultural norms and overlapping customary and formal regulatory arrangements often position men in more favorable positions than women in FTA value chains. Interventions in FTA value chains largely focus on enhancing women’s participation and benefits, but rarely consider the relationships between men and women. Raising awareness of gender biases, relations and potential trade-offs among those involved in value chains and those supporting inclusive value chain development should accompany technological innovations, and should occur across multiple stages of the value chain

A gender box analysis of forest management and conservation

Peer Revie

Gender and forests: climate change, tenure, value chains and emerging issues

Focusing particularly on tropical forests, the book presents both local case studies and global comparative studies from Africa, Asia, and Latin America, as well as the US and Europe. The studies range from personal histories of elderly American women’s attitudes toward conservation, to a combined qualitative / quantitative international comparative study on REDD+, to a longitudinal examination of oil palm and gender roles over time in Kalimantan. Issues are examined across scales, from the household to the nation state and the global arena; and reach back to the past to inform present and future considerations

Looking forward in gender and forestry related research and praxis

Peer Revie