Gender Dynamics in Forestry Management Systems
Summary
Gender dynamics in forestry management encompass the roles, rights and responsibilities that women and men hold in accessing, using and governing forest resources. Historically, the sector has been male-dominated, with women’s contributions to ecological knowledge, livelihood diversification and community resilience often undervalued or overlooked. Contemporary research demonstrates that when women participate meaningfully in formal decision-making bodies, forest health and local livelihoods improve, reflecting a link between inclusive governance and sustainability outcomes. Nevertheless, persistent barriers—social norms, labour divisions and institutional rules—continue to limit women’s influence. Advances in policy analysis and empirical investigation now emphasise intersectional approaches that address not only numerical representation but also the underlying gender orders that shape access to resources and decision-making power. Practical applications include gender-responsive policy reforms, capacity-building programmes and community-based governance models that integrate diverse voices for more equitable and effective forest management worldwide.
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Gender Dynamics in Forestry Management Systems publication trend
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Technical terms
Gender norms: Socially constructed expectations about the roles, behaviours and responsibilities considered appropriate for women and men within a society.
Participatory forest management: A collaborative approach in which local communities share decision-making authority and responsibility for forest conservation and use.
Gendered division of labour: The allocation of different economic and household tasks to women and men based on cultural and social norms.
Gender order: The institutional and cultural system that organises power relations and social practices along gender lines, often privileging masculine values and structures.
References
- Gender and forest resources in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic literature review. Forest Policy and Economics (2024).
- What is the ‘problem’ of gender inequality represented to be in the Swedish forest sector?. Environmental Science & Policy (2023).
- Women participation in formal decision-making: Empirical evidence from participatory forest management in Ethiopia. Global Environmental Change (2021).
- Theorizing the Implications of Gender Order for Sustainable Forest Management. International Journal of Forestry Research (2011).
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