Biodiversity
Biological diversity, or biodiversity, refers to the total number of species and ecosystems in a region. As human beings, our ability to live on this planet– to breath air, consume food and water, and cure disease– is intricately linked to biodiversity.
At present, the planet is facing an escalating loss of species across our natural environment, roughly 1,000 times the natural rate, due to increased pollution, disease, land-use, and the impacts of climate change. Although a large percentage of this environmental degradation is fueled by over-consumption and development in industrialized nations, the affects are felt hardest by communities in the developing world whose livelihoods are linked to natural resources. These resources are vital both for consumption and income through forestry, fishing, agriculture, etc.
Gender and Biodiversity
Women and men undertake different roles in the use and management of natural resources to combat biodiversity loss and ensure equitable access to these resources, especially in developing countries. Although gender differentiated responsibilities vary region to region, in most communities in the developing world, women act as primary caretakers and natural resource managers. For example:
• Women often take the leading role in household /community management by controlling consumption patterns, collecting firewood for fuel and cooking, managing household waste, and providing healthcare through traditional medicines.
• Females in developing countries on average carry 20 litres of water per day over 6 km.
• Women control as much as 60-80% of the world’s food production and play a huge role in both water management and forestry. However, in some countries, women have few legal rights to land and globally women own less than 2% of the world’s titled land.
The gendered nature of resource management coupled with an unequal access to rights in certain countries leaves many women particularly vulnerable to the affects of biodiversity loss. As forests are depleted and fresh water supply exhausted, it is women and young girls who travel farther each day to collect firewood and water for their communities. Having to devote more time to water collection and travelling longer distances, means that girls may be unable to attend school and often puts women at greater risk for sexual harassment.
Significantly though, these gendered roles have provided women with vital technical and traditional knowledge on managing natural resources, particularly in terms of preservation and innovation. For example, women’s work in agriculture lends them a vast understanding of crop and seed varietals and in turn how to adapt their food production to changes in weather patterns and food supply. Without women’s full participation in decision making we cannot hope to develop the solutions and innovations necessary to combat biodiversity loss.
Further information on this can be found in WEDO’s Factsheet on Gender and Biodiversity.
The Latest Biodiversity News
Women’s Caucus at the CBD- More work to be done!
Nagoya, Japan– Rachel Harris speaks at High Level Event at the CBD on behalf of the Women’s Caucus. The Caucus welcomes the stregthening of language for gender mainstreaming throughout the CBD which was achieved in Nagoya and recognizes that much more work needs to be done to ensure implementation of the Gender Plan of Action.
Rachel Harris on GreenTV
Nagoya, Japan– Rachel Harris explan’s WEDO’s work at the CBD, convening the Women’s Caucus. Watch below or click here to view.
IUCN Press Conference–Mainstreaming Gender in Biodiversity
Nagoya, Japan– During a press conference at the CBD meeting, Lorena Aguilar, Senior Global Gender Advisor for IUCN, together with Rachel Harris of WEDO, Marie Khan, Gender Focal Point of the CBD, Akiko Domoto, Japanese Journalist, former Governor of Chiba Prefecture in Japan and ex-parliamentarian, Loreen Jubitana, Director of VIDS-DRS (Indigenous representative from Surinam) and Camila Moreno, who works in Brazil and Latin America on social and environmental dimensions of biotechnology and agribusiness expansion in the region, presented the challenges and the importance of gender mainstreaming in biodiversity, hoping that their voices are heard and gender issues soon win a more prominent place on the development agenda.
The Women’s Caucus advocates for gender at the CBD!
Nagoya, Japan- Today, Rachel Harris of WEDO gave an intervention at the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) on behalf of the Women’s Caucus for Item 4.9(e) on Gender Mainstreaming. This statement highlights the need for a core post in the CBD on gender.
“Protecting Life on Earth”: WEDO arrives at the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP10) in Nagoya, Japan
Nagoya, Japan — This week, representatives of over 190 signatories to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity have come together in Nagoya, Japan for the 10th meeting of the parties to the Convention, or COP10. The conference is set to forge a new agreement for the ten years to curb escalating biodiversity loss and potentially set aside vast amounts of the world’s land and marine areas as sanctuaries. On the table at CBD COP 10 are 20 targets designed to tackle the extinction crisis and restore the earth’s natural capital.
Read IUCN’s article in the lead up to the start of the…
