The document discusses the importance of incorporating gender perspectives in forest management to enhance sustainable practices and ensure equitable resource access for both women and men. It highlights challenges faced by women in participating in joint forest management and emphasizes the need for targeted approaches to foster their involvement. Additionally, it addresses misconceptions around gender roles in forest product collection and the necessity for better policy frameworks and support systems.

1. GENDER DIMENSIONS IN
FOREST MANAGEMENT
MEGHANA ROSE JOSEPH
2017-17-006
NRM Department
College of Forestry, Vellanikkara
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2. Why gender?
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3. 3
Incorporating a gender perspective in forest management and
decision-making processes will help:
• Increase awareness of the roles of women and men in the
sustainable management of forests and trees
• Avoid or manage conflicts among competing uses of forests
and their products, and ensure that women’s and men’s
traditional
• Indigenous rights to forest use are maintained

4. • Promote equal access of women to forests and other resources
necessary for effective socioeconomic participation
• Ensure that both women and men receive training, gain access to
information and other external services to increase productivity
through the use of new and improved technologies
• Increase the capacity of communities to capitalize on the
complementary roles of women and men and mobilize people for
collective action in, for example, forest regeneration, biodiversity
conservation, watershed protection and the allocation of forest-use
permits.
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(Gender in forestry, FAO)

5. • Do women contribute more than men to household
income from unprocessed forest products?
• Do men contribute more than women to household
income from processed forest products?
• Do women tend to collect forest products for
consumption while men collect them for sale?
• Do men participate more in forest user groups than
women?
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MYTHS AND REALITIES

6. • Many of the claims that are often made in the
literature, on gender and forest products, are
based on case studies.
• We cannot generalize these studies-regional
variation
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7. PEN- Poverty and Environment
Network
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• The PEN network was launched in September 2004 by the
Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) with the
aim of collecting uniform socio-economic and environmental
data at household and village levels in rural areas of
developing countries.

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9. • Forest product collection and sale: considering the forest
products brought to the household by women and men
respectively across several broad categories, including types
and quantities of products, whether they are processed or not,
and whether they are collected for consumption and/or sale.
• Access to forest products: the value of forest products
collected in lands under different land and resource tenure
systems
• Community forest management: men and women’s
participation in formal FUGs.
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DIMENSIONS

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Share value of unprocessed forest products collected by women, men and
both, at a globally and regionally disaggregated level.
(Sunderland et al, 2014)

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Share value of processed forest products collected by women, men and
both, at a globally and regionally disaggregated level.

12. Share of income from unprocessed and processed products (by gender categories
and types of products)
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13. Percentage of women who participate in forest user groups
(FUGs).
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14. INDIA
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15. Women at forefront in conservation movements like Chipko and Khejrali
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16. The women have to spend major part of their time and have to
walk long distances daily to collect fuelwood, fodder and other
Non Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) from forests
Awareness about trees, shrubs and grasses is higher amongst
women than in men because women devote more time than men
to collect forest produce to meet family needs. About one-third of
poor women are directly involved in forestry or forestry related
works in the unorganized sector (Nanavaty, 1996)
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17. Constraints for Women
Participation in JFM
• Women were not informed about meetings
• Unsuitable time for meetings when women could not be free
from household work
• Social customs restraining women from attending such
meetings
• Women perceived no gain from attending such meetings
• Generally, the men respond when questions are directed even
specifically to the women
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18. Possible Approaches for Increased
Women Participation in JFM
• Awareness among women needs to be increased
• The policy provisions regarding women participation should
be clear and mandatory
• Female extension workers need to be employed with whom
women may talk freely
• Provide proper extension support to motivate women and also
their husbands for their active participation in JFM
• The need for their participation and benefits accruing to them
from JFM need to be properly explained to women to create
their interest in the programme
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19. SELF HELP GROUPS
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20. Self Employed Women’s association (SEWA) –
Gujarat-gum Karaya
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SEWA

21. VASANTHASENA
• Started in 2002 at Periyar Tiger Reserve
• For day time patrolling from 10am-5pm
• Without remuneration
• The forest department appointed 101 women as the Vasantha Sena (Green Army)
under the World Bank’s India Eco Development Project, which had begun in
1996.
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22. Published by FAO in 2016
Designed to help forestry officers in
developing gender-responsive actions
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The field guide provides practical advice, such as:
• Understand the particular challenges women face when participating in
policy-making, income-generating and community-level activities.
• Plan meetings and activities at a time and place that fits with the schedules
of women stakeholders, and allow children when possible.
• Maintain a dialogue between women’s advocacy groups and the
government.
• Advocate for a stronger role for women in policy and decision-making.
• Ensure women have leadership and decision-making roles rather than
simply counting the number of females at meetings.

24. REFERENCE
• Sunderland, T., Achdiawan, R., Angelsen,A., Babigumira,R., Ickowitz,A.,
Paumgarten,F., Reyes-García,V., Shively,G., 2014,Challenging Perceptions about
Men, Women, and Forest Product Use: A Global Comparative Study, World
Development,64:56-66
• Nanavaty, Reena. 1996. Feminise our forests. Consultation World Commission on
Forests and Sustainable Development, New Delhi., 1996. SEWA, Ahmedabad. 9
pp.
• http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2013/11/joint-report-on-women-in-
natural-resource-management
• https://www.cifor.org/gender
• http://www.fao.org/forestry/gender/en/
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25. THANK YOU
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