Women leading the charge: Transforming SA’s enviroment sector

By Deputy Minister Bernice Swarts

 As South Africa celebrates Women’s Month, the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) reflects on “30 Years of Democracy Towards Women’s Development” by examining the progress on gender mainstreaming within the environmental sector.

In alignment with the White Paper on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of South Africa’s Biodiversity and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), the Department continues to place women and youth at the forefront of environmental and conservation management. This commitment is being actualised through the implementation of policies and legislation aimed at ensuring their equal representation in the biodiversity and conservation sectors.

The GBF was adopted at the Conference of Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD) in 2022 and is designed to catalyse urgent, transformative actions by governments, business, and society at large. By 2050, the goal is to halt and reverse biodiversity loss, achieving its vision and 23 action-oriented targets through a whole of society approach.

Target 23 calls for gender equality in the implementation of the GBF through a gender-responsive approach, ensuring that all women and girls have equal opportunities and capacities to contribute to the three objectives of the Convention. This includes recognising their equal rights and access to land and natural resources and promoting their full, equitable, meaningful, informed participation and leadership at all levels of action, engagement, policy, and decision-making related to biodiversity.

It is now widely acknowledged in international policy that women and men have differentiated roles related to the use of, access to, control over, and ability to benefit from natural resources. Despite their crucial role, women often face significant barriers to participating in conservation programs due to underrepresentation in leadership roles. However, their involvement is essential for driving economic empowerment and resilience within communities.

Gender inequality, alongside the ongoing climate crisis, remains one of the most significant sustainable development challenges, disproportionately impacting women from all walks of life. Women and young girls, particularly those from impoverished and marginalised communities, continue to face discrimination based on sex or gender. They are more likely to lack the resources needed to cope with natural disasters such as droughts, floods, and environmental degradation. Gender roles are central to biodiversity management, and often, these roles are used as a means of enforcing control over natural resources.

South Africa, through the DFFE, is fully committed to advancing gender transformation and has already made significant strides in closing the gender gap. Under the Goal of Transformation, the White Paper on Conservation and Sustainable of South Africa’s Biodiversity, which is the country’s policy response to the GBF, recognising the need to promote participation and the influence of women in order to enhance a gender sensitive and responsive approach to biodiversity conservation.

The Strategy towards Gender Mainstreaming in the Environment Sector, developed in 2016 and extended to 2025, underscores the Department’s commitment to integrating gender equality into every facet of its operations. This strategy is supported by essential documents such as the Sector Gender Framework, Sector Gender Literature Review, and the Sector Gender Diagnostic Report, which collectively provide comprehensive guidelines for achieving gender equality within the sector. These tools enable stakeholders to report on gender-related issues, track progress, and address challenges, ensuring that gender mainstreaming is a core component of environmental governance.

The Women in Environment Dialogue, an annual series of forums initiated in 2005, is a testament to the Department’s dedication to women’s empowerment. These dialogues have not only heightened awareness but also provide platforms for women to engage directly with policy development and access economic opportunities. Additionally, the Gender Plan of Action maximises synergies between gender equality and the conservation, sustainable use, and fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilisation of genetic resources, while also considering the impacts of climate change and changes in land and sea use as drivers of biodiversity loss.

Furthermore, various multi-sectoral programmes such as the LandCare programme, Working for Water, Working for Land, Working for Wetlands, and Working on Fire are deliberate in supporting the empowerment of women by linking biodiversity conservation with socio-economic development. These initiatives create opportunities for women while also contributing to the overall growth and sustainability of the sector. In the 2023/2024 financial year, 80 918 work opportunities were created across these multi-sectoral programmes of which 60% (48 377) were awarded to women. Moreover, these commitments promote the scaling up of nature-positive food production, strengthen women’s land rights to advance land restoration, and foster youth engagement by creating decent land-based jobs for women and young people.

As the world prepares for the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity’s 16^th Conference of Parties (CBD COP16) in Cali, Colombia in October 2024, it is crucial to underscore that gender mainstreaming is not merely a box to be ticked but a pivotal factor in achieving lasting biodiversity outcomes. Ensuring that women have a central role in decision-making processes related to biodiversity is essential for crafting solutions that are inclusive, equitable, and sustainable. The upcoming COP16 provides an opportunity to illuminate the importance of gender-responsive approaches in the global biodiversity agenda, setting the stage for transformative change.

One of the unique topics of convergence that will be discussed at these meetings is gender equality in recognition of the unique role of women in biodiversity and conservation, climate change and land degradation. Gender inequality remains one of the most significant sustainable development challenges. Women are more likely to lack the resources needed to cope with natural disasters such as droughts, floods, environmental degradation and climate change.

For a long time, women have been disenfranchised in respect of their relationship with nature, being denied access to land and consequently the values that can be derived from nature. Yet, women as primary care givers are users of biodiversity from food, health and medical applications amongst others. As natural nurturers, women are known to conserve and apply sustainable harvesting practices of natural resources. Despite their crucial role, women often face significant barriers to participating in conservation programs due to underrepresentation in leadership roles. However, their involvement is essential for driving economic empowerment and resilience within communities.

The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment is committed to transforming the biodiversity economy sector into a more inclusive and equitable field, where women and young girls have a voice, access to relevant information, and actively participate in the coherent, gender-responsive national implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. The DFFE will continue to lead initiatives for gender equality within the environmental sector.

Bernice Swarts is the Deputy Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment Department.