New Publication: Female leadership in conservation: stories from the field

Sometimes life offers you the chance to meet individuals who push boundaries that have been stuck for ages – individuals who create a crack in rigid walls.

Header photo © Shar Balagtas

This publication is a collection of stories of women who challenged the status quo in their patriarchal societies, and by standing up, have created space for other women. Our new publication allows you to meet a group of strong women who have stood up for the protection of nature and shown leadership on conservation issues. They have cleared a path for their sisters and daughters.

‘Women have important, valuable things to say, that can change the world to a better, beautiful and more nurturing place to live.’ – Judy Pasimio, Founder LILAK

Meet Ruth, an Indigenous leader from the Bolivian Amazon who denounced human rights violations in Bolivia at the United Nations (UN) to protect her ancestral territories from hydroelectric dams and logging activities. Meet Muna, who is gently determined to make a difference for women and nature in Aceh, Indonesia. And meet Preeya in Guyana, who followed her heart in protecting nature. Meet all the other women in and behind these inspirational stories of change, who made a difference and marked their way.

This publication highlights the insights and key learnings from these stories of female leadership, showing how these change makers scaled up their ambitions to protect nature and transform deeply entrenched power structures around gender norms. Read and be inspired.

This publication was created as part of Shared Resources, Joint Solutions (SRJS), a five-year strategic partnership (2016-2020) between IUCN NL, WWF NL and the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The women included in the publication used SRJS to scale up their ambitions to protect nature and transform deeply entrenched power structures around gender norms.