This session of the 2014 IUFRO World Congress focused on challenges, opportunities, and outcomes of securing women’s participation in forest governance, linking them with issues and experiences in climate change adaptation and mitigation.

1. Gender, participation and
Climate Change
Bimbika Sijapati Basnett

2. Overview
 Gender in REDD+ debate
 Research on Gender & REDD+: women’s inclusion in REDD+
process
 Lessons from gender & political governance research in
forestry: understanding, rationalizing, responding, and
reflecting.

3. Gender and REDD+
 Cancun Agreement, social safeguards and benefits in
REDD+
 Gender mainstreaming in support for REDD+ readiness
 Women’s lack of participation in REDD+ processes – Nepal,
DRC, CIFOR comparative study.
 But what does ‘lack of participation’ mean? why aren’t
women participating? What difference will their participation
make? How can women’s participation be improved? To
what extent is participation a panacea for equitable benefit-sharing?

4. Lessons from gender and forest
governance
 Mai et al. (2011) thorough review of 20 years of feminist
research on forestry shows focus - gender and forest
governance and gender and value chains.
 What does ‘participation’ mean? – nominal – active
 Why don’t women participate in forest governance? - Rules,
norms, social preferences, entrenched claims, personal
endowments, household endowments. – S. Asia & global
comparative
 What difference will their participation make? Livelihood,
forests. Qualifying participation – mixed groups more
effective than women only groups. Critical mass.

5. Continued..
 How can women’s participation be improved? What is the
role of civil society and state?
» “web of strategic alliances” that span horizontally and
vertically. Deliberative spaces.
» “Embedded autonomy”
 To what extent is participation a panacea?
» Symptom with deeper roots
» Heterogeneity among ‘women’
» Exacerbating unequal relations without leading to
clear benefits

6. Thank you