---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Fri, 21 May 2004 22:45:13 -0700 From: Carol D. McRoberts <[log in to unmask]> Reply-To: [log in to unmask] To: [log in to unmask] Subject: [WASAN] Fw: [women-csd] FW: UNEP / Women & Environment Book Launch Subject: [women-csd] FW: UNEP / Women & Environment Book Launch > >From UN Environment Programme > Thursday, May 20, 2004 > > NEW YORK/NAIROBI, 20 May 2004 - Women are the world's great unsung > conservationists, often out-pacing men in their knowledge and nurturing of domestic and > wild plants and animals. > > That many species, some with important drought or pest resistant properties, > survive and remain in cultivation is largely thanks to women and the key roles > they play in society, a new publication by the United Nations Environment > Programme (UNEP) makes clear. > > Women, especially in developing countries, are the farmers, the feeders and > the carers in their communities, relying on an intimate understanding of nature > to fulfil their many and varied roles. > > They are also the primary providers of water. In the mountain areas of East > Africa, women may expend close to a third of their calorie intake in collecting > and supplying this precious resource. > > Female members of a community often bear the brunt of a natural disaster, > such as famine or drought, and are the ones who shoulder the responsibility for > keeping offspring alive. > > "In pastoral societies, when cattle die, men migrate to new pastures or shift > to a different location where they pursue other activities. Women and > children may also leave, but generally as a group to hunt famine foods as well as > pods and other tree products to sell in distant markets", says the book, > published in association with the Women's Environment and Development Organization > (WEDO). > > "Other scenarios that result from loss of livestock involves men turning to > idling, gambling and drinking cheap brew, leaving women as the sole > breadwinners", it adds. > > The book, published with financial support from the United Nations Foundation > (UNF), will be launched today at the third session of the Permanent Forum on > Indigenous Issues taking place at UN Headquarters in New York. > > Klaus Toepfer, UNEP's Executive Director, said: "Women, particularly in > developing countries, are often in the front line in terms of overcoming poverty, > managing the land and waterways and sustaining their communities. During times > of stress and insecurity, it is generally the women who must forage further > and further for food, water and fuel. During times of plenty, the fields and > kitchen gardens they tend are mini-laboratories where domesticated and wild > plants and animals are selected and tested for their agricultural and medicinal > value." > > "It is clear from this publication, that women have a central role as > custodians of local and indigenous knowledge and as conservators of the natural > world. It also clear that their role and their 'know-how' is often undervalued and > ignored. Indeed, all too often women are treated as second- class citizens > with less rights and a reduced status in respect to men. It is high time that > national and international policies reflect gender differences and give far > greater weight to the empowerment of women", he added. > > "We must breathe life into the gender dimensions enshrined in the UN > Millennium Development Goals; we must build on the outcomes of the 1992 Rio Earth > Summit, the 1995 Beijing Conference and the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable > Development and cement these at the Beijing plus 10 Conference on Women and > Development next year. For if we ignore the role of women, all our collective hopes > and aspirations for a better and more stable world will be harder to achieve", > said Mr. Toepfer. > > The book, drawing on observations and research by numerous individuals and > organizations including UNEP and the UN Food and Agricultural Organization, > contains numerous illuminating anecdotes and case studies that reflect the crucial > and all too often ignored role of women in the environment. > > It also highlights programmes, often established by individual women or > women's groups, to deal with environmental and development threats. > > Thailand: Studies of 60 women-managed kitchen gardens in Thailand have > chronicled 230 different vegetable and other species, many of which had been rescued > from a neighbouring forest before it was cleared. > > Pakistan: Village women in the Kanak Valley, Province of Baluchistan, > Pakistan, can readily identify 35 medicinal plants they commonly use. They say that > the plants "grow up with no masters", a reference to the fact that that the > plants have no husbands to boss them around. > > Sierra Leone: A study there found that women could name 31 uses of trees on > fallow land and in forests whereas men could only name eight. > > Kenya: Here men's traditional knowledge is actually declining as a result of > formal schooling and emigration whereas women, given less access to formal > education, are retaining the local indigenous knowledge and in many cases > acquiring the men's. The Green Belt Movement in Kenya, conceived by the 50,000-strong > National Council for Women and launched in 1977, has founded a network of > 6,000 village nurseries and led to the planting of some 20 million trees in order > to combat desertification and erosion. > > Iran: In Yazd, known as the "desert capital" of Iran, it is women who have > devised novel methods of agricultural production including food production in > tunnels constructed underground. > > Mexico: In south-east Mexico, women keep as many as nine breeds of local > hens, as well as breeds of ducks, turkeys and broilers in their back gardens > selecting the best breeds to suit local environmental conditions. In other words, > women are actively conserving the genetic diversity of Mexican breeds and thus > contributing to conservation. > > China: Desertification afflicts up to half of China's population. In a dry > and degraded area 1,000 km west of Beijing, communities have been mobilized by > women to plant willows and poplars to halt the advancing deserts and create > fertile land for vegetable production. > > Philippines: The Green Health programme, set up by the University of the > Philippines Los Banos Institute of Biological Sciences, is teaching women (and > men) in communities on the north-eastern tip of Mindanao, to use herbal plants to > cure ailments and to help them to earn income. > > Notes to Editors > The book, "Women and the Environment", is available on-line at www.unep.org > or at EarthPrint, www.earthprint.com > > For more information, please contact: Eric Falt, Spokesperson/Director of > UNEP's Division of Communications and Public Information, tel: +254-20-62-3292, > mobile: +254-733-682656, e-mail: [log in to unmask] or Nick Nuttall, UNEP Head > of Media, tel: +254-20-62-3084, mobile: +254-733-632755, e-mail: > [log in to unmask] > > In New York, please contact Jim Sniffen, UNEP Information Officer, tel: > +1-212-963-8094, mobile: +1-917-742-2218, e-mail: [log in to unmask] > > At WEDO, please contact: Marcela Tovar, tel: +1-212-973-0325, e-mail: > [log in to unmask] > > For more information, contact: > > Nick Nuttall > Head of Media > UN Environment Programme > [log in to unmask] > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > > This is a listserver set up by the CSD Women's Caucus. It has been established to circulate information in relation to the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD), particularly on women / gender and sustainable development issues. The CSD is the UN body mandated to monitor the follow-up of the Rio Earth Summit (1992) and the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development (2002). > To learn more about the CSD Women's Caucus work, check the web-site at www.earthsummit2002.org/wcaucus/csdngo.htm > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > > ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Yahoo! Domains - Claim yours for only $14.70 http://us.click.yahoo.com/Z1wmxD/DREIAA/yQLSAA/DKgolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> We periodically meet the fourth Wednesday of the month. For a calendar of local Africa events see http://www.ibike.org/africamatters/calendar.htm . 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