Doc 5272

Re-envisioning REDD+:

Gender, Forest Governance and REDD+ in Asia

Jeannette Gurung and Abidah Setyowati

WOCAN

REDD+

Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest

Degradation to create incentives for developing

countries to reduce GHG and invest in low carbon

paths to sustainable development

REDD+ goes beyond, to include role of conservation,

SFM

Performance-based payments to forest owners and

users

Should be possible for poor forest dependent

community members to gain multiple benefits

If designed and implemented well…

Significant co-benefits of REDD+ :

Ensure secure tenure

Reduce poverty

Sustainable livelihood

biodiversity conservation

climate change adaptation

Risks to community members

Lack of secure rights and

tenure

Restrictions on forest

use, in forests managed

for conservation, carbon

sequestration

Unequal benefit sharing

mechanisms

Focus on technical

aspects

What is Missing?

Gender Assessment in Cambodia,

Vietnam, Indonesia, Nepal

1. What are women’s roles in

forest management?

2. How have gender issues

been incorporated in REDD+

projects?

3. What constraints affect

gender integration into

REDD+?

4. Recommendations for

REDD+ and Sustainable

Landscapes program

Women’s Potential Contribution to

REDD+

Primary users and

managers of forests

Local knowledge

High dependence on

NTFPs for livelihoods

Roles in forest protection,

not only harvesting

Gender Integration in REDD+

Little evidence that

institutions implementing

REDD+ or PES projects

have incorporated gender

in systematic and

significant ways;

No specific recognition of

women as a stakeholder

group that will be affected

by REDD+ differently than

men;

Women and Land Tenure in REDD+

Importance of secure tenure in REDD+

If REDD+ brings about compliance with international

conventions on women’s rights (i.e. CEDAW), could

positively affect women through payments and co-

benefits, including land rights.

But if women’s rights are ignored, REDD could result in

women’s restricted access to forests and NTFPs,

increasing time and distance to collect fuel wood, food,

other products and further marginalizing them;

Unsecure tenure rights for women;

Few countries provide joint rights to community forest

user group membership, or formal rights needed for

revenue sharing;

Benefit Sharing Mechanism

Assumptions that women

will benefit automatically

from community-focused

activities. Many cases

show elite and male

capture of benefits due to

women lack of access to

decision making

processes;

Rights to benefit sharing

often determined by

tenure rights;

Participation

Low levels of

‘meaningful’

participation by

women in forest

governance bodies as

well as REDD+

decision making

processes at local,

national and global

level.

Nepal Case

Chitwan District Dolakha District

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Monitoring

Committee

REDD Network REDD Network

Secretariat

Women

Men

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Advisory

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Monitoring

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REDD Network REDD Network

Secretariat

Women

Men

Barriers to participation

Illiteracy: lack of access to

education;

Limited time and mobility:

Work burdens of women that

allow little time to participate in

capacity building activities,

and opportunities to voice their

concerns and perspectives;

Exclusion: lack of recognition

of roles, responsibilities and

rights of women in forest

management.

Institutional ‘gender blindness’

Lack of awareness of gender

issues within forestry

institutions;

Institutional biases that

determine ‘appropriate’ roles for

women, based on socio-cultural

norms;

Few women professionals to

challenge these norms results

in a failure to recognize and

legitimate women’s roles,

knowledge and contributions to

forest management.

Leadership

Perception that women

cannot lead, based on

low education levels;

No activities to strengthen

women’s leadership in

forest and REDD+

governance;

Despite that concerns…

Women champions

exists in variety of

levels;

Women networks can

be powerful to change

the situation

Recommendations

Incorporate gender perspective in the project design

and implementation;

Provide capacity building for women and space for

women’s voice;

Ensuring secured tenure for women;

Strengthen women’s organizations/self help groups to

provide them with skills and knowledge;

Develop benefit distribution systems that recognize and

reward women’s contributions to forest management;

Promote technologies that reduce women’s work loads

while promoting conservation

increasing men’s supports for women participation and

leadership in REDD+.

Concluding Remarks

Women’s unsecured

tenure bring a lot of

implications

Neglect of women’s

rights in climate

change policies and

initiative is

problematic;

THANK YOU!