In a community center in rural Madagascar, Kame Westerman noticed something that changed her career.\n<\/p>\n
As the men debated the closure of an octopus fishery, the women \u2014 who stood to gain or lose the most from the decision \u2014 were silent.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThey either weren\u2019t included in the decision-making or didn\u2019t feel comfortable engaging in the discussion,\u201d Westerman recalled of that day a dozen years ago. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d spent years working in community-based conservation,\u201d she said, \u201cbut I\u2019d never noticed the gender imbalance in resource management so clearly.\u201d <\/p>\n
That realization reshaped her work. <\/p>\n
Westerman went on to establish Conservation International\u2019s gender program and has spent more than a decade working with teams in the field to craft practical, culturally sensitive ways to bring women and men equally into conservation.\n<\/p>\n
Conservation News recently sat down with Westerman, who discussed the challenges women continue to face \u2014 and her hopes for achieving more inclusive conservation around the world.\n<\/p>\n
During her career, Kame Westerman has seen women’s engagement and leadership become a cornerstone of effective conservation.<\/em><\/p>\n Conservation News: Tell me about that \u201caha!\u201d moment that helped focus your career.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n Kame Westerman: <\/strong>I was working on the southwestern coast of Madagascar, an area where octopus was the main source of income for local people \u2014 the Vezo, who are known as incredible seafarers. While the men sailed their outrigger One day, I attended a meeting at a local community center. The community leaders from across the region were there to talk about the annual closure of the reef flats \u2014 something they had done for years to allow the octopus fishery to recover. When But wait, I thought, harvesting octopus on the reef flats was mainly women\u2019s work. This discussion about closing the octopus fishery was going to impact these women directly.\n<\/p>\n That experience really opened my eyes to the fact that men and women use natural resources<\/a> differently, and therefore What does your work entail, day to day?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n KW:<\/strong> Much of my work focuses on helping colleagues around the world integrate gender into their projects\u2019 design and implementation \u2014 from building skills for local partners, to advising on project design, to finding creative We believe that diverse decision-making is key to more effective conservation. My job is to help my colleagues find ways to do just that. One way is by creating spaces for women leaders to come together to learn from and mentor each other. We\u2019re Another way is by developing new income opportunities focused on resources that women traditionally use. That varies depending on the place: In Palau, it\u2019s giant clams; in Fiji, seaweed; and in Liberia, selling fish. <\/p>\n We\u2019re also trying to make sure that important changes \u2014 like providing child care during meetings \u2014 are integrated into our projects to ensure women\u2019s participation.\n<\/p>\n How has this field evolved since you started working in it?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n KW:<\/strong> There\u2019s been a big shift. Ten years ago, gender in conservation was a fringe issue. Just a handful of people \u2014 women mostly \u2014 were talking about it. When Conservation International hired me, I was one of the only The million-dollar question I used to get all the time is, \u201cWhere’s the evidence? Show me that investing in gender-related activities is going to result in better conservation outcomes.\u201d I used to get that question a lot, and I don’t as much Do you think it\u2019s a valid question?<\/strong><\/p>\n KW: <\/strong>As a conservation organization, everything we do should move the needle in terms of protecting nature. And a growing number of studies show that conservation outcomes are better<\/a> when women are involved<\/a>. <\/p>\n Where it stops me a bit is that no one ever asks, \u201cIs good stakeholder engagement important? Or do I really have to engage Indigenous Peoples in my project?\u201d <\/p>\n For some reason, it\u2019s ok to ask, \u201cDo I need to engage women?<\/a>\u201d <\/p>\n I think we\u2019re beyond making the case for why it’s important. Now we’re asking how do we do it effectively and equitably?\n<\/p>\n Are you seeing new issues crop up?<\/strong><\/p>\n KW:<\/strong> One of the things we\u2019re starting to talk about more is gender-based violence \u2014 which happens in communities worldwide and infringes on women\u2019s ability to become conservation leaders. Also, how gender-based violence I encourage teams to understand how gender-based violence can come up in the context of our work \u2014 as part of the complex social norms of a community and sometimes even as a consequence of our interventions. This means mapping out support services, KW: <\/strong>We\u2019re diving deeper to try to address deep-rooted inequities, which can be incredibly overwhelming. It\u2019s a recognition that we need systemic changes if we\u2019re going to achieve gender inclusive and gender equitable The biggest opportunities \u2014 where the funding is right now \u2014 are in climate finance. If gender equality is not central to how financing for climate mitigation and adaptation is designed, there\u2019s a real risk of perpetuating discrimination.\n <\/p>\n I know it may sound clich\u00e9, but I\u2019ve seen it time and again: Invest in one woman and that ripples out to her family, her community and beyond. It changes people\u2019s lives.<\/p>\n Further reading:<\/strong><\/p>\n Vanessa Bauza is the senior communications director at Conservation International.\u00a0Want to read more stories like this<\/a>? Sign up for email updates. Also,\u00a0please consider supporting our critical work<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/cicloud.imgix.net\/images\/default-source\/non-vault-images-s3\/picture3.jpg?sfvrsn=8dc4dcba_1&&auto=compress&auto=format&fit=crop?&auto=compress&auto=format&w=800\")
\u00a9 Kame Westerman<\/span>\n<\/p>\n
\n canoes into deep waters at the crack of dawn, women would wait onshore for the tide to recede. There, they would gather their children and well-used spears and venture to the reef flats to patiently coax octopus from their burrows. <\/p>\n
\n the facilitator called to the back of the room with a question, I noticed a handful of women huddled on the bench. Tending to the babies and small children on their laps, they seemed hesitant to respond in the large group. <\/p>\n
\n have different perspectives on conservation. At the same time, this notion that community leaders, who are often male, speak for all community interests is a fallacy that conservation routinely falls into.\n<\/p>\n
\n ways to support women\u2019s leadership. <\/p>\n
\n doing this now with women park rangers across several African countries. <\/p>\n
\n people at an environmental organization with a full-time position and funding for a gender program. Now, all the big environmental nonprofits have gender policies and programs. We are building gender into the fabric of how we do conservation \u2014
\n we use analyses that help us better understand gender dynamics, and we develop specific activities that support women\u2019s engagement and leadership. <\/p>\n
\n anymore.\n<\/p>\n
\n is exacerbated by climate change and perpetuated by environmental degradation<\/a>. <\/p>\n
\n such as health centers, civil society organizations and local women\u2019s groups.\n<\/p>\n
\n conservation. <\/p>\n