Ensuring that women benefit from REDD+

Women contribute significantly to forest management. For example, they practice traditional agroforestry and gather fuelwood and non-wood forest products (NWFPs) for food, medicine and fodder. In some countries, such as Indonesia and Viet Nam, women engage in nursery activities and patrol and monitor forests. Given their involvement in forest management, women should be among the beneficiaries of forest-related sustainable development initiatives. The REDD+ mechanism poses several potential risks for women, which, if not considered as a matter of urgency, could underline or broaden gender disparity. Women are likely to be affected by REDD+ policies differently to men, possibly to their detriment. For example, they could be subjected to higher workloads without appropriately scaled compensation, displaced from or denied access to forests, denied a fair share of benefits, or left out of consultations and capacity-building activities.