Role of Women in Forest Management

- Cudia, Jane Victoria A. February 23, 2011 2007-15891Soc Sci 180 Role of Women in afwoodland focal point Increasingly, the role of autochthonal populates in forest have it offment and preservation had been recognized on the inter study level. Even if forest management and saving had been an indigenous practice since time immemorial, recognition of indigenous peoples roles started only lead or four decades ago.However, indigenous peoples as protectors of the environment argon taken as a whole dis implying the contribution of roles and differences as change factors to the continuous practice of forest management and conservation. In damage of IP roles in forest management and conservation, gender is a very authorized thing to consider. Given an indigenous social and political context, the management of forests is common. In general, forest management is primarily the domain of men. Womens participation on the other hand primarily lies in forest protection because at that s eat is an intimate relationship between IP women and the forest (Caguioa, 2011).However, problem lies in the lack of recognition in national policies as to the roles of IP women in forest management and conservation. The yearn forest of Brgy. Agawa, Besao, Mt. Province is a communal forest shared by different communities managed mostly by indigenous peoples. For the people of Brgy. Agawa, the forest or langdas is the source of livelihood and a place where their unique culture thrive, adept of the major features of indigenous peoples. In terms of livelihood, the langdas is the source of wild fruits and animals, lumber, and firewood.In the indigenous law they practice, selling of pine lumber is prohibited. Also, outsiders are prohibited from getting anything from the langdas making the practice sustainable. In terms of tradition and culture, they believe that there are spirits guarding the rivers and forests. This is one of the reasons why indigenous peoples do not exploit the fores t resources. Also, they manage the forest in a sustainable way because of the belief that their ancestors, who were conceal in sacred places, mingle with their affairs. The role of women in environment protection, forest management, and conservation is very pressificant.Two of the key informants of the study conducted by Caguioa (2011) and her colleagues are old women who spent most of their life living in the area. The people of Brgy. Agawa, has a history of resistance in protecting the langdas and the environment. One sign of protest they had done before was the exposure of older womens rapper to oppose people who wanted to operate saw mills in the area back in the 1940s. In response to the secret rosin tapping activities done to pine trees that operated during the 1970s, women of Besao secretly removed the plastic catchers and burned every last(predicate) of it.In general, women of Agawa, Besao, Mt. Province show their protest in the regional and national level in opposition of road construction, mining, and logging projects that will nail the langdas. Amidst globalization, vulgar consumerism, high demands from the foodstuff, and laws that treat us totally equals sometimes even without regard to culture, the people of Brgy. Agawa, Besao, Mt. Province especially women managed the forest in a sustainable way. Following their traditions and belief systems, they had managed to carry on the forest by following intrinsic mechanisms to restore the forest.Given the resources and knowledge systems we have as members of the dominant and so called developed society, we should devise forest management and conservation mechanisms that are well and applicable. However, due to a market-driven economy we engage in, we have no influence over our resources anymore. The working mechanism that works today is what the market demands, the market gets even at the expense of the environment and the people who manages to protect and conserve the forest.Forest management , although primarily dominated by men, it should be the domain of all even if there are differences in gender. As seen in the geek of Brgy. Agawa, Mt. Province, women had great contributions in forest management and conservation. It all goes down to this in effective forest management and conservation, gender roles and differences have a diffuse to offer. Reference Caguioa, M. C. (2011). Panagsalaknib ti Langdas Role of original Women in Forest Management in Brgy. Agawa, Besao, Mt. Province from the Global Lecture Series on Indigenous Peoples Studies (University of the Philippines Baguio).