The initiative to convene women counselors from Protected Natural Areas (ANP) emerged from the need to seek and create a space for counselors, with counselors and for counselors. On March 10, 2021, a first virtual meeting was convened with women who participate in the Advisory Councils and Subcouncils of the ANP of Mexico, with the purpose of building bridges that would link women counselors and allow them to promote collaborative initiatives.
The call was attended by 20 women from ten different Advisory Councils, and the purpose of the meeting was: “To share experiences, doubts, challenges, expectations, and why not? laughter and hope”
In this way, a space for interaction and dialogue emerged between women who participate in the Councils and collaborate from different spaces and sectors in the conservation of the ANP.
From that first meeting, the women's group decided to meet monthly to continue answering questions and addressing issues such as: why talk about women's participation in Advisory Councils and ANPs? , is the participation of women and men in the Councils equal? , how to contribute to carrying out actions for change? , as well as sharing women's learning and challenges in the ANP and actions to strengthen their participation.
Between March and July 2021, five meetings were held in which a total of 26 women counselors from 12 different Advisory Councils participated. These women represented a wide variety of organizations, communities and sectors: women from the fishing sector, community representatives and inhabitants of protected areas, community promoters, artisans, researchers, academics, directors of ANP, CONANP staff who coordinate the operation of the Subcouncils, and most of them represented civil society organizations that promote different projects for conservation and sustainability in natural areas.
Based on dialogue and exchange, some ideas were collectively formulated as conclusions and proposals:
For the month of August 2021, the group of women counselors had proposed some concrete actions for monitoring and strengthening:
- Share materials that strengthen the role of counselors —men and women—, to guide and highlight the role of women in Advisory Councils.
- Generate dissemination materials (simple and concrete) focused on the experiences of counselors and on promoting their participation in the Advisory Councils. The first infographic was designed for each participant to disseminate it to their sector and community through social networks and cell phones (attached at the end of the text).
- Disseminate the actions that women and in particular counselors do for the conservation of the ANP, through the social networks of the ANP, civil organizations and academic institutions, using the hashtag: #SoyMujeryConsejeradeunANP
- Promote workshops and exchanges of experiences for women counselors, in order to provide tools for leadership and participation.
- Prepare one or more dissemination videos that highlight the role of women in the conservation of the ANP and the importance of their participation in the Advisory Councils.
During their meetings, the counselors raised several questions about the operation of the Advisory Councils and their participation in them, and they reflected internally on the functioning of the Advisory Council of which they are part: who makes up the Council? Do the women who should be part of it participate?
As a result of this reflection, two generalized characteristics and needs were identified.
First, that the majority of women in Advisory Councils are alternates and very few are incumbents, which shows that women do participate in many ways and in many activities, both in Councils and in ANP, however, their role is not always visible.
Second, women require tools and training to strengthen their leadership and participation in these spaces.
Therefore, the next step, and with the support of the Niparajá A.C. Natural History Society, was to hold a training workshop. Thus, from August 12 to September 9, 2021, the workshop Gender and Environment: Life at the Center was held virtually on Thursdays, which lasted a total of 12.5 hours and in which a total of 25 women counselors participated.
The objective of the workshop was to learn the basic concepts of gender and its connection with environmental issues based on a biocentric approach, with a methodology that is aimed at generating training processes based on content that promotes new learning through experience and body movement. It was a unique experience in which dialogue, experiences and movement accompanied learning and motivation. It was taught by the Social Training and Research collective, experts in the field of gender and with experience in raising gender awareness and applying the gender perspective in public policies and social programs.
During the workshop, dialogue and participation were promoted with trust and respect.
Some of the relevant issues highlighted in the discussions were:
- The predominance of men in the Advisory Councils and the sexist attitudes that limit women's participation in them.
- The scant recognition of the role played by women within the ANP, which influences the low representation and participation in the Advisory Councils, as well as in other mechanisms of participation, consultation and decision-making.
- The need to establish or strengthen alliances with other actors working in the ANP.
- The importance of consolidating women's political participation in the ANP.
Based on the opinions and evaluations of the participants in the workshop, and the experience of the instructors, the following recommendations were subsequently made:
1. Generate more workshops on the topic of Gender that promote the deconstruction of the daily practices of the people who make up the Advisory Councils (workshops aimed at women and workshops aimed at men).
2. Link the local actions of the Advisory Councils with the objectives of the 2030 Agenda.
3. Promote and expand the exchange of experiences to 1) make visible the experience and achievements regarding women's political participation and the strengthening and recognition of women's work for the preservation of each ANP and 2) to promote the support of the new members of the Advisory Councils.
4. To jointly support, at the national level, the local initiatives of each Advisory Council. For example, the reorganization and adaptation of space that favors the presence and participation of women in all Advisory Councils and “supports women's mobility”, with resources managed by the Advisory Councils themselves.
The participation and interest of women counselors, expressed in the conclusions and proposals generated in the meetings and the workshop, demonstrate the need to create spaces for encounter and reflection. Through this publication, we want to highlight this need and, above all, recognize the value of shared experiences and reflections, since they can be the starting point for continuing to build learning and promote actions that promote inclusive, equitable and gender-sensitive participation in Advisory Councils and other spaces for participation for the conservation of ANPs.
In the month of August 2022, with the collaboration of Red Turismo Sustentable, A.C. convened a group of counselors, with the purpose of building new initiatives together with them. We are excited to think about the learning, proposals and challenges that this space can cultivate.
We thank all the women who participated in the 2021 meetings and the workshop Gender and Environment: Life at the Center, for their time and commitment. To the workshop's instructors: Martha Guerrero, Adriana Salas and Carolina Torres; for offering us a learning space in contact with our experiences, emotions and corporality. To the Niparajá A.C. Natural History Society and Miguel Ángel Palmeras Rodríguez for believing in this project.
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