CELEBRATE, WOMEN DEFENDERS and OTHER PARK GUARDIANS
Women and the environment is one of the 12 critical areas of concern identified in the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action adopted by world leaders at the Fourth World Conference on Women.
According to UN Women, "achieving gender equality and women's empowerment is an integral part of each of the 17 SDGs". The latest Forum of Ministers Report (2021) contains key data that illustrates the relationship between women and the environment.
women and the environment, for example:
- At the regional level, less than 18% of landowners are women (...).
- Regarding agriculture, one of women's economic and subsistence activities, it is found that women only manage 16% of smallholdings (FAO, 2017) and their plots are systematically smaller than men's and of lower quality and, therefore, lower productivity.
- This direct link to natural resources, which in turn are vital for personal and community survival, leads women to perceive threats in different ways. These struggles are often related to the protection of their livelihoods, rather than environmental conservation.
Another key framework for our region is the Escazú Agreement, the first LAC environmental instrument. It describes that "Women defenders are seen as a threat because they question and put at risk power structures based on class privilege and gender discrimination. They also demonstrate in a simple and daily way how detrimental it is for humanity to continue sustaining a predatory system of life on the planet. They are the ones who suffer most from the consequences of the loss of access to land and natural resources.
In addition to the risk situations faced by women in the defense of their rights to land, territory and the environment, there are also the barriers they face for living in rural areas, for belonging to peasant, indigenous and Afro-descendant communities, and also for being women or for having diverse sexual orientations and gender identities".
In this same line we include the OTR@S GUARDAPARQUES.
According to the URSA Alliance report, "Being a Park Ranger is not just a job, it is an opportunity to contribute to the conservation and protection of the planet. But the barriers for women to become park rangers are high: the profession is heavily dominated by men, and women globally represent only 3-11% of the workforce. Rather than being male-dominated, the work of park rangers has a "macho" representation.
(...) Gender and intersectional diversity in representation within organizations is an amplifier of effectiveness - in project planning, program development and execution, priority setting, decision-making groups. The likelihood of better decision-making increases when representatives of the whole, not just half, of the population have the opportunity to participate."
From the Celebration of Protected Areas, Conserved Areas and their people 2021, we especially intend to make visible and recognize the efforts of these people:
What makes them proud?
What keeps them going?
What would you like to share at the simultaneous event around October 17th?
REGISTER your CELEBRATION in the CATEGORY "Defensoras y Otr@s Guardaparques" send your material before September 30th and be part of this powerful meeting of pride for Latin America and the Caribbean on October 15th, 15th and 17th 2021...
HOW?
Send your testimony, a tour of your place, your favorite space, your struggle, your affections in nature, what you feel about the work you are passionate about, and more!
FORMAT: Format: up to 2MG / 1.30 min long in mp4 / horizontal position / must respect the Identity Manual.
Fuente: Towards Gender Equality In The Ranger Workforce: Opportunities & Challenges, un informe de la Universal Ranger Support Alliance (URSA) de Joni Seager (2021).