Understanding the role that gender plays in natural resource use is crucial for effective conservation efforts. While Madagascar is a priority for international conservation due to its high levels of endemism and unsustainable natural resource use, there is little information on how gender roles affect forest product use. This study uses over seven years of data on gender roles within the extraction, use, and sale of natural forest and marine resources near Madagascar’s largest national park to inform future conservation strategies. We found that gender significantly affects how one uses natural resources in Madagascar. Men were primarily responsible for the collection of natural resources; however, women were responsible for collecting nearly all resources in at least one household. Women purchased more of the natural resources they used, whereas men collected nearly all of their natural resources. More men than women collected resources for income and women primarily collected resources for subsistence. Of the resources they collected, women were significantly more likely to be responsible for the collection of animals than plants, and of aquatic rather than terrestrial resources. Gendered spaces resulted in women collecting most of the resources within rivers, whereas men collected most of the resources in ocean, agricultural, and forested lands. When age is an added factor, we found that while men were more responsible for collecting natural resources than women, boys were almost as likely as adult women to collect a resource, and girls were the least likely within a household to be primarily responsible for resource collection. A locally relevant understanding of how gender roles and needs intersect with natural resource use can help ensure the continued delivery of ecosystem services while protecting Madagascar’s endemic species.

Presents five case studies focusing on the roles and constraints of women in natural resource management.

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2004 in the subject African Studies - Culture and Applied Geography, grade: 2.1 (68.00), Oxford University, language: English, abstract: In many places throughout the developing world, women have a central role in growing food crops, collecting water and fuel-wood, and using materials from plants, trees, and marine ecosystems to prepare medicines for their families or products for sale in markets (WWF, 2002c). For example, women in sub-Saharan Africa are the backbone of the agricultural sector, accounting for 70% of agricultural labour and being responsible for 60% of agricultural production and 80% of food production (Kabeer, 1994). Yet this critical work is often overlooked and many women have little opportunity to participate in decisions about their community’s natural resources or join training and capacity-building initiatives designed to promote sustainable resource management (WWF, 2002c). This dissertation seeks to argue that rural women in Madagascar are very important in the management of natural resources; indeed this is one of the main aspects conservationists have to deal with when considering the sustainable use of natural resources (WWF, 2002c; UN, 2000; Ngong and Arrey, 2003). Having discussed the major areas of rural women’s work in Africa and their implications for the environment, this dissertation will explore the role of rural women in Madagascar to exemplify the issues associated with resource use in a biodiversity hotspot. First, general research on the topic will be introduced followed by a specific case study of Antandroy women in Analoalo, a village in the Spiny Forest of South-Eastern Madagascar. The dissertation will conclude by examining the importance of women in the use of natural resources and ways in which they could be integrated into sustainable rural development. The question of how rural women can be involved in the conservation of their local environment has become a contentious issue (Rodda, 1991; UN, 2000) and one which needs to be explored. It should be noted that any efforts to involve rural women in conservation projects also need to concentrate on improving the quality of life in rural areas in general, including a sustainable rural economy. Before exploring the case study, I review the major areas of the work of rural women in sub-Saharan Africa showing how closely linked it is to their use of natural resources. Further, the implications for conservation will be highlighted.

The aim of this book is to highlight the role that gender research can play in understanding natural resource management and rural development issues in the Middle East and North Africa region and how hands-on training and mentoring can be used as a capacity enhancement approach. It presents findings of four research teams, working in three countries, Algeria, Lebanon and Morocco. The approach was to build the capacity of national teams through hands-on field research, mentoring and technical support, which is different from traditional training. The chapters present the results of the case studies used as learning platforms for the teams and reflections on this approach. The case studies demonstrate the capacity and skills that the teams have acquired. These teams were multi-disciplinary and included social scientists as well as specialists in water management, livestock production and rangelands and agronomy. The book provides grounded empirical examples for MENA academics, practitioners and development students concerned about ensuring gender-balanced rural development.

This book is about the gender dimensions of natural resource exploitation and management, with a focus on South and Southeast Asia. It provides an exploration of the uneasy negotiations between theory, policy and practice that are often evident within the realm of gender, environment and natural resource management, especially where gender is understood as a political, negotiated and contested element of social relationships. It offers a critical feminist perspective on gender relations and natural resource management in the context of contemporary policy concerns: decentralized governance, th.