THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF EASTERN AFRICA (A.M.E.C.E.

A)

FACULTY OF ARTS AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGES, LITERATURE AND COMMUNICATION

UNIT CODE: GS 101

COMMUNICATION SKILLS

LECTURER: SR. LUCY L. NABUKONDE PhD.

STUDENT NAME: DAVID M. KARIUKI

ADMISSION NO: 1035178

26-OCT-2018

TERM PAPER
“ASSESS THE CONTRIBUTION OF WOMEN TOWARDS ENVIRONMENTAL
CONSERVATION”
DEFINITION OF TERMS
Environmental conservation: Anything we do to protect our planet and conserve its natural

resources so that every living thing can have an improved quality of life. (Webster, 1828)

Introduction

At the global level, there is a growing awareness of the need and importance of making women

contribute to the identification of environmental conservation, as well as in the planning of

activities geared at the sustainable development of the environment. Although for a long time

women have been considered passive protectors rather than active participants in development,

their role is crucial both to the conservation as well as sustainable developers to the future of

the environment. In that regard, as environmental educators and motivators for change, women

are key agents in the processes leading to a more sustainable and healthy development of the

planet.

Women are traditional protectors of the environment. A world survey on public attitudes on the

environment sponsored by the United Nations Environment Program showed that women are

more likely than men to choose a lower standard of living with fewer health risks rather than a

higher standard of living with more health risks. (UNEP, 2016). This shows us the women’s mojo

and fire in taking part in the global movement in environmental conservation and so the high

priority need to find the gender-conservation nexus with a focus on women.

Ecofeminism. This name was coined by French feminist Françoise d’Eaubonne in 1974 and the

theory made public by Vandana Shiva. Ecofeminism says that women are closer to nature than

men are. This closeness, therefore, makes women more nurturing and caring towards their
environment. (Wikipedia, 2012). A list of notable women that have played a substantive role in

environmental conservation according to Green Pop are;

1. Jane Goodall. 5. Vandana Shiva.

2. Sylvia Earle. 6. Isatou Ceesay.
3. Wangari Maathai. 7. May Boeve.
4. Rachel Carson. 8. Marina Silva.
(8 women environmentalist that you should know)

Wangari Maathai
Perhaps the best example of women's participation in environmental activities is represented by

the work of Nobel Prize winner Wangari Maathai, the founder of the Green Belt movement. With

her efforts, participants in this movement in public and private lands have planted more than 30

million trees. Her work has led to the restoration of Kenya's rapidly diminishing forests and has

empowered rural women in environmental preservation techniques.

The Green Belt Movement has four main areas of activity— Tree Planting and Water Harvesting,

Climate Change, Mainstream Advocacy, Gender Livelihood and Advocacy. (Green Belt

Movement, 2003) In Kenya, the Green Belt Movement established by Nobel laureate Wangari

Maathai has planted over 51 million trees. This movement is not only a symbol of women’s

environmental agency, but their utter zeal for environmental conservation. This can further be

backed by the fight she had in Kenya with the state, top government officials, the president at

the time and even extreme activist measures like coercing women to strip naked in town.

Her fight for a noble cause not only earned her a Nobel peace prize- a first amongst all African

Women, but also went a long way in conserving Kenya woodland cover, soil erosion and

empowering women through conservation measures that even earned a livelihood for them.
Vandana Shiva.
Vandana Shiva is an environmental conservationist and activist whose works are majorly based

in India. Shiva worked on grassroots campaigns to prevent logging and the construction of large

dams. She was also a critic of Asia’s Green Revolution, an international effort that began in the

1960s to increase food production in less-developed countries through higher-yielding seed

stocks and the increased use of pesticides and fertilizers. The Green Revolution had led to

pollution, a loss of indigenous seed diversity and traditional agricultural knowledge, and the

troubling dependence of poor farmers on costly chemicals. In response, scientists established

seed banks throughout India to preserve the country’s agricultural heritage while training

farmers in sustainable agricultural practices.

In India the Chipko movement protected forests essential for community livelihoods against

destructive logging began in 1973 (Jain, 1973)The work of Indian scientist and environmental

activist Shiva, including on food sovereignty and biodiversity conservation, has had a global

impact (Shiva, 2016)but have helped broaden conceptions of the gender-and-environment

nexus.

Isatou Ceesay is a Gambian national who began the recycling center of N’jau in her native

village. She had the mission to educate her fellow villagers to the necessity to reclaim waste

rather and do plastic recycling, than let them pile up behind their houses. Her together with her

group of volunteer women started by teaching their communities to manage domestic waste

and to change the role women play in society. The recycled plastic is then used to create

revenue by crafting wallets, bags, and balls.

Marina Silva came out as a politician and environmentalist. During her years in office (2003-

2008), she championed for the environment. Between 2005 and 2011, Brazil lowered the rate of

deforestation in the Amazon region by 50%, countering historical trends and achieving a

reduction of Greenhouse Gases emissions of 30%. More effective law enforcement over forest

and land use was implemented in protected areas, including requirements on state governments

to develop deforestation reduction plans and greater penalties for offenders. Becoming an

emission reduction leader after a long track record of Amazon deforestation. In 2007, the United

Nations Environmental Programme named Silva one of the Champions of the Earth – ‘for

championing conservation while taking account of the perspectives of people who use the

resources in their daily lives’. (Hochstetler and Viola, 2012)

References
8 women environmentalist that you should know. (n.d.). Green pop. Retrieved October 23, 2018,
from https://greenpop.org/8-woman-environmentalists-you-should-know/

Green Belt Movement. (2003). Maathai. Retrieved from greenbeltmovement.org

Hochstetler and Viola. (2012).

Jain. (1973). N.D.

Shiva. (2016).

UNEP. (2016). Gender and environment. Gender and environment, 242.

Webster, M. (1828). Merriam Webster Dictionary.

Wikipedia. (2012). Women and the environment. Retrieved October 23, 2018, from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_and_the_environment