Globally, the evidence has been mounting in linking gender equality and enhanced environmental outcomes. ... In fact, evidence reveals that there is a correlation between environment and gender; when gender inequality is high, forest depletion, air pollution and other measures of environmental degradation are also high.
Explanation:
Globally, the evidence has been mounting in linking gender equality and enhanced environmental outcomes. ... In fact, evidence reveals that there is a correlation between environment and gender; when gender inequality is high, forest depletion, air pollution and other measures of environmental degradation are also high.
. Ecosystem services encompass provisioning (including food and water), regulating (for example carbon sequestration), supporting (such as nutrient cycling) and cultural services119. Both women and men in many countries rely on ecosystem services in their daily roles, but women tend to have fewer alternatives. For instance, in Asia and Africa, women are usually the main collectors of wild plant food from forest ecosystems, while men tend to focus on harvesting timber and wild meat.120 Inequalities between women and men in access, control and ownership of land and natural resources, as well as socio-cultural barriers to economic opportunities for women, increase women’s dependency on access to some ecosystem services. This subsequently increases their vulnerability to ecosystem degradation and access restrictions as a result of conservation schemes. For example, in Uganda, women were found to be more impacted from wetland degradation than men due their use of wetlands for firewood, handicraft materials, water and herbal medicine.121 In this context, the conservation of wetlands would be particularly beneficial for women, as
