Nyungwe National Park.

This project originated from a training I attended in Nairobi, organized by Tropical Biology Association (TBA) about Integrating Rights and Social Issues in Conservation (INTRINSIC where I learned about gender inclusion in conservation. By reading different reports, I found women are less represented in conservation work but the reports did not reveal the drivers behind that. The research to be conducted aims at assessing the factors influencing the low participation of women in conservation work, and it will focus on Nyungwe National Park. The research will assess the factors limiting the participation of women in conservation work and will help to understand the role which would be played by women in conservation once they are on board. Some of the projects outputs include:

1) Understanding the factors influencing the low participation of women in conservation work;

2) Updated figures of female enrolment in conservation learning institutions and employment in conservation institutions;

3) Reasons why it is beneficial to have women participating in conservation;

4) Proposed measures from different institutions towards the inclusion of women in conservation work.

Results of this study will be shared with conservation managers, Universities, colleges, communities and it is expected that more women will be involved in conservation work regarding the findings which might be followed by mobilizations to encourage women to participate in conservation. To achieve these outputs, the surveys using interviews with open and closed questions will be conducted and these will be supplemented by focus groups. Two years after the project, a kind of monitoring study will be conducted to assess the evolution of female participation in conservation work within parks, NGOs, and female enrolment in conservation colleges and Universities. Through this project, I will build capacity of young female graduate who will benefit from training on how to conduct community surveys, focus groups and how to link conservation and social sciences. Different projects are being conducted within communities around Nyungwe National Park to promote community livelihoods and it is not yet known whether women benefit in the same way as men, and most of supported cooperatives are made of men. I am then planning to conduct another project(once this is completed) which aims at assessing whether women benefit from conservation projects in the same way as men and explore possible opportunities which can benefit also women and improve their behaviours towards conservation.