Day 4 at Climate talks: Women in the forest – no fairy tale
L-R: Simone Lovera, Global Forest Coalition; Ana Filippini, World Rainforest Movement; Gotelind Alber, Genanet; Racheal Nampinga, Ecowatch Africa; and Anna Pinto, Centre for Organisation Research & Education.
Isolde Alber, Artist, shared the story of Amrita Devi and Bishnoi martyrs, who, in 1730, sacrificed their lives to protect forests in Jodhpur, India.
Racheal Nampinga, Ecowatch Africa, described how women’s initiatives have helped protect forests and generate diversified income sources through: the introduction of indigenous species and nurseries; ecotourism promotion; reduced fuel use for cooking; and fish farming.
Ana Filippini, World Rainforest Movement, explained how the introduction of monocultural forests has led to the eviction of indigenous peoples from their land worldwide, and how women in Brazil are protesting to recover their land from private companies.
Anna Pinto, Centre for Organisation Research and Education, argued that “we have the development paradigm backwards” and that instead of enlarging options, we are reducing them to suit market needs. She outlined how some CDM projects are negatively impacting women and forests.
Simone Lovera, Global Forest Coalition, cautioned against proposals to reduce emissions from deforestation (REDD) in developing countries. She noted that women are the losers of market systems as they least contribute to deforestation but do not reap the benefits of averting it and lack marketing and language skills.
Gotelind Alber, Genanet, stressed that women’s participation is essential to forest conservation and that market-based approaches are harmful.
Participants discussed land ownership rights and the need to broaden the scope of views acknowledged in the climate negotiations to encompass women’s knowledge and contexts.
More information
http://www.ecowatchafrica.com
http://www.wrm.org.uy
http://www.globalforestcoalition.org
http://www.genanet.de
Contacts
Ulrike Röhr <roehr@genanet.de>
Isolde Alber <isolde.alber@web.de>
Nampinga Racheal <nrachelk@yahoo.com>
Ana Filippini <anafili@wrm.org.uy>
Simone Lovera <simonelovera@yahoo.com>
Gotelind Alber <goalber@online.de>
Anna Pinto <anarchive.anon@gmail.com>
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