Sustainable development has three pillars: economic viability, environmental protection and social equity. If one of these pillars is unstable or missing, then no society can thrive.
In rural Côte d’Ivoire, women depend on forests for the subsistence and health of their families. However, despite the existence of laws recognising gender equality, they are not involved in decisions that affect forests and have very limited access to land and associated economic benefits.
Dans le milieu rural ivoirien, les femmes dépendent des forêts pour la subsistance et la santé de leurs familles. Néanmoins, malgré l’existence de lois reconnaissant l’égalité des sexes, elles ne sont pas impliquées dans les décisions qui touchent aux forêts et n’ont qu’un accès très limité à la propriété de la terre et aux bénéfices économiques que celle-ci rapporte.
“Nos incorporamos tarde al proceso, pero sabíamos que era importante, así que pusimos mucho interés en entenderlo. Y nos encontramos con un grupo de actores comprometidos a trabajar de manera conjunta en busca de un objetivo común”. Rosario García es la presidenta de la Organización Nacional Indígena Lenca de Honduras (ONIL) y la coordinadora de la Mesa de la Unidad del Pueblo Indígena Lenca de Honduras (MUPIL). El proceso al que se refiere se conoce como Acuerdo Voluntario de Asociación, o AVA, y está transformando la forma en que se manejan los bosques hondureños.
“We came late to the process. But knew it was important, so we made it our priority to understand it. And we were met by a committed group of people working together towards a common objective”. Rosario García is the president of the National Lenca Indigenous Organisation (ONIL) and coordinator of the Roundtable for the Unity of Lenca Indigenous People (MUPIL). The process she is referring to is known as the Voluntary Partnership Agreement, or VPA, and it is already reshaping the way forests are managed in Honduras.
It’s a quiet Thursday morning in Wruwru, a small village in the Akontombra District of the Western North region of Ghana. A little too quiet perhaps. No one is tending to the forest reserve, no children are playing under the trees and no community members are making use of the water from the river that flows through the forest. This is because today is a so-called ‘taboo day’. A day when the local community prays, rests and does not enter its forest.
It’s a hot afternoon in Ataasi Nkwanta, in the Ashanti region in Southern Ghana. Beads of sweat are trickling down the head of Ernest Anokye, the operations director of a small sawmill called Sir Charles Company Limited. “It never used to be this hot this time of the year,” says Anokye. “It’s getting hotter every year! But things are changing around here. Recently, our community planted trees to create shade and stop droughts. People are increasingly aware of the benefits of forests in the fight against climate change.”
Le samedi 23 mars 2019, après 17 heures, dans les bureaux de la direction départementale de l’économie forestière du département du Niari, dans l’ouest de la République du Congo, toute l’équipe était encore en train de travailler : le directeur départemental, le chef de service forêt, le chef de service de la valorisation et les assistantes de direction. Mais qu’est ce qui les amenait à travailler un samedi après-midi? La réponse est leur engagement pour la transparence dans la gestion forestière.
Women in five tropical forest countries share their views on how timber trade deals between their countries and the EU could boost gender equity.
Rita Asaana has some advice for her fellow women in Ghana — ‘look for work in a sawmill’. Having started out operating a veneer drying machine at the LLL sawmill in Kumasi in 2014, she was promoted in 2016 and now works as a receptionist there. And while she no longer does manual work for the company she has praise for the conditions of women who do.
Rodrigue Ngonzo, EU-F4F/Particip
Logs and Lumber Limited
European Forest Institute
Javier Bernal Revert, EFI
Capture Ghana, EFI