Conserving biodiversity is
important. Nature is part of our home, our world and our lives. We see it, use
it and rely on it every day but we tend to forget that it is there. It has an
intrinsic value as well as an economic, social and biological one since it
provides us with food, medicinal resources, gene diversity, recreation and
tourism, protection of water resources, etc. The degradation of natural
resources leads to economic losses, vulnerability to climate change, diseases,
among others. Based on this information I ask a bigger question: should women
care about conservation? Should we be involved?
My answer is a big YES! Women should be
involved in conservation and natural-resource-related decision-making processes
at all levels. Female participation should start form a small scale such as
community-based projects, to a broader scale such as a high-ranking policy and
decision making.
As I researched this topic, I have noticed
that at a larger scale there is a tendency for females to select certain professions
and/or employment. According to the U.S. Department of Labor (2010) (Table 1) there
is a list of traditional employment and career selection for women. From Table
1 we can see that women tend to be under-represented in many occupations
including areas such as science, technology and others. Although there has been
a female incursion towards the scientific field and other areas, powerful
leadership positions have been rarely held by women (Hoyt 2010). Furthermore,
conservation could be more effective with women playing a larger role. While
many women work for conservation organizations, leadership positions are largely
held by men.
20 Leading Occupations of
Employed Women
|
2010 Annual Averages
|
(employment in thousands)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Occupation
|
Total
Employed
Women
|
Total
Employed
(Men and
Women)
|
Percent
Women
|
Women’s
Median
Weekly
Earnings
|
Total,
16 years and older
(all
employed women)
|
|
|
|
|
65,638
|
139,064
|
47.2%
|
$669
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Secretaries
and administrative assistants
|
2,962
|
3,082
|
96.1
|
657
|
Registered
nurses
|
2,590
|
2,843
|
91.1
|
1,039
|
Elementary
and middle school teachers
|
2,301
|
2,813
|
81.8
|
931
|
Cashiers
|
2,291
|
3,109
|
73.7
|
366
|
Retail
salespersons
|
1,705
|
3,286
|
51.9
|
421
|
Nursing,
psychiatric, and
home
health aides
|
|
|
|
|
1,700
|
1,928
|
88.2
|
427
|
Waiters
and waitresses
|
1,470
|
2,067
|
71.1
|
381
|
First-line
supervisors/managers
of
retail sales workers
|
|
|
|
|
1,375
|
3,132
|
43.9
|
578
|
Customer
service representatives
|
1,263
|
1,896
|
66.6
|
586
|
Maids
and housekeeping cleaners
|
1,252
|
1,407
|
89.0
|
376
|
Receptionists
and information clerks
|
1,187
|
1,281
|
92.7
|
529
|
Childcare
workers
|
1,181
|
1,247
|
94.7
|
398
|
Bookkeeping,
accounting, and
auditing
clerks
|
|
|
|
|
1,179
|
1,297
|
90.9
|
628
|
First-line
supervisors/managers of
office
and administrative support
|
|
|
|
|
1,035
|
1,507
|
68.7
|
726
|
Managers,
all others
|
1,014
|
2,898
|
35.0
|
1,045
|
Accountants
and auditors
|
989
|
1,646
|
60.1
|
953
|
Teacher
assistants
|
893
|
966
|
92.4
|
485
|
Personal
and home care aides
|
838
|
973
|
86.1
|
405
|
Office
clerks, general
|
837
|
994
|
84.2
|
597
|
Cooks
|
790
|
1,951
|
40.5
|
381
|
Source:
U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Annual Averages 2010.
There are also gender differences at a
smaller/local scale in terms of the roles, power of decision making and the
impact of environmental degradation. In rural villages men tend to use natural
resources for market/cash-oriented purposes, whereas women tend to work with
subsistence crops to support their household’s basic needs. Women are in charge
of collection fuel wood, water and other resources (World Bank 2010). In
addition, environmental degradation has a disproportionate impact on gender.
The majority of the world’s poor are women; they also tend to live in rural
areas, are isolated from economic opportunities and rely heavily on natural
resources to complete household tasks. Environmental degradation has a high
impact on women by increasing the amount of time and effort they invest in
providing food security to their household (New Course 2010). Women also have
fewer ownership rights and their voices tend to be absent in local
decision-making processes (World Bank 2010).
Figure 1. Woman in India participating in a seed conservation program. Photo credits are property of Find Your Feet/Jessica Ridgewell. www.findyourfeet.wordpress.com/category/biodiversity/
Women should be involved in conservation
because we (as a gender) depend heavily on nature for food security and
livelihood, we are the most affected by environmental degradation and because our
gender is not equally represented in decision-making processes and policies.
It is our problem and we need to work together provide a voice for those whose
voices are not being heard. Yes, we are taking strong steps towards gender equality
but there is much more that we can do and I encourage you all to get involved.
You can support this cause by getting involved in conservation projects, by
contacting your local government representative to stand up for environmental
and women’s issues, by donating women’s community-based projects and by sharing
this blog. You don't have to have a career in conservation to make a difference. You could support other people trying to make a change for all of us. I hope I can make us all start thinking about this topic and have a
conversation about this.
Thanks for reading this post and please feel free to share it!
Lucrecia Myers (Lucy)
Literature
cited
Hoyt, C.L. 2010. Women, Men and
Leadership: Exploring the gender gap at the top. Social and Personality
Psychology Compass 4(7):484-498.
New Course. 2010. Women, natural resource
management and poverty.
