Book Description
Key messages Decision-making initiatives led solely by external forest stakeholders (organizing local community stakeholders) can make the meaningful involvement of women and marginalized groups difficult, if not impossible.Self-initiated community groups, however, are able to leverage authentic collaborative engagements, empowering women to speak up when decisions are being made.To ensure effective participation, women need to be empowered to become agents of change through taking on, both formally and informally, strategic roles in community groups making forest-related decisions.Forest certification requires new approaches to ensure the effective participation of all stakeholders; this includes promoting the use of gender quotas as a transitional mechanism, not as an end-goal; the development of local gender-sensitive leadership pathways; and taking a human rights approach to participation.