Women are major users of forest and other natural resources. They farm the land, and collect fuel wood, medicinal plants, wild nuts, mushrooms, and a range of products from the forest. They fish in streams and rivers that critically depend on healthy forests to maintain healthy freshwater ecosystems. Degraded lands, forests and freshwater ecosystems have major negative consequences for rural women. For example degraded forests impact heavily on local livelihoods, creates food insecurity leading to poor diets, and loss of critical income generating opportunities for rural women. This increases the burden women carry in rural areas; a further demonstration of their vulnerability in situations of major degradation of the natural resource base.

Women, who make up the bulk of the most vulnerable in rural areas therefore, need to be empowered to play a proactive role in natural resource conservation. Raising the level of awareness, about conservation, amongst rural women will lead to the development of a critical support-base for conservation in rural Liberia. By empowering women to actively participate in conservation efforts, this project will pioneer a major shift in approaches to conservation. It will also create new opportunities for achieving conservation objectives and contribute to associated behavioural changes.

Activities:

Major activities of the project include the holding of community meetings with women in Rivercess and Grand Bassa Counties to create a forum for them to discuss and analyse their situation regarding natural resource management in the communities and identify opportunities for promoting the role of women in the governance, decision making an management of natural resources in the counties and country at large;

To deliver a ‘tailored’ training package for these women focusing on Training for Transformation /DELTA, Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) and the REFLECT;

Trainees develop an integrated action plan for the purpose of capacity building and networking to meet the myriad of challenges facing their development and wellbeing.