Women Play Major Role In Managing Forests - UN

By Minggu Simon Lhasa BANGKOK, March 23 (Bernama) -- It's about time to acknowledge the major role that women have in managing forests, according to a United Nations (UN) official. “Women have to be given more opportunities to play leading roles and given far greater say when decisions are made about trees and forests,” said Hiroyuki Konuma, UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific. It was very clear that no initiative aimed at addressing climate change or forest management would be successful without the full involvement of women, he noted. A new report, just released by FAO and RECOFTC – The Centre for People and Forests - highlights that women could be a major force in countries’ strategies to improve forest management. Studies confirmed the key roles of women in managing and protecting forests in the Asian region. The present efforts to address climate change clearly needed to be stepped up to include more effective forest management and expansion of forest cover, said Konuma. More than 11 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions resulted from deforestation and forest degradation, he added. Forests cover 31 per cent of global land area and almost as much carbon is stored in forests (650 billion tons) as in the atmosphere (760 billion tons). “Protecting the remaining forests of our region conserves the biodiversity that is vital for plants, humans and other animals to adapt to climate change,” Konuma said. More than 1.6 billion people depend on forests for their livelihood, medicine, fuel and food. March 21 marks International Forest Day. -- BERNAMA