A Round Table discussion on
"Agriculture, Environment and Forestry: Role of Women's Leadership"
was held in Ahmedabad on July 10, 2017 with women leaders from Nepal who have
been working on key issues of sustainability and conservation in Nepal ever
since a devastating 2015 earthquake had hit their country.
The role of small business in forest
produce trade; the scope for green bonds to invest in forestry; and linking
forestry recovery with national development planning came up in the
discussions.
The leaders discussed ways to feminize
forestry activities in favour of work, income, and ecosystem away from profits,
timber trading, and singular business interests.
The leaders agreed that there was a need
to rethink the very foundations of modern forestry with historically grounded,
highly current, and well argued lessons from ongoing recovery in Nepal. The
earthquake recovery may deepen the inequality between those who benefit from
forests and those who do not. For the people dependent on forests for their
livelihood, the aftermath of the earthquake mattered more than the actual
earthquake.
In addition needs capability building were
discussed, which included ways of understanding multi-sectoral forestry needs
of women; disaster vulnerability of forests; integrating women's livelihoods
and protection programming for forestry recovery; and understanding new
stakeholders in forestry recovery.
The participants pin pointed four areas for
more work in building resilience of forests to disasters: formal and informal
institutions; forest households; forest produce markets; and forest related policies
such as water harvesting, and carbon sink.
It was concluded that more investment was
needed in building capabilities of local leaders to find local ways to plan for
DRR compliant forestry in the districts. A pedagogy of risk reduction is needed
for the forests of the past, present, and the future.
– Mihir R. Bhatt
for any further information please
contact: bestteam@aidmi.org
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