Attitudes and perceived barriers to women participating in a proposed community-based conservation programme in Belize

Many global efforts to decrease deforestation have focused on community-based conservation programmes to reach their goals. However, many such programmes are lacking a potentially helpful population, women. We employed key-informant interviews to examine attitudes towards, and barriers to, women...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Oryx 2018-01, Vol.52 (1), p.89-97
Main Authors: Kaeser, Amanda S., Willcox, Adam S., Panti, Nidia C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Attitudes
Barriers
Behavior
Community
Community participation
Conservation
Cooperation
Deforestation
Forest conservation
Forest management
Forestry
Forests
Motivation
Natural resources
Participation
Qualitative research
Research methodology
Social capital
Studies
Success
Theory
Wildlife conservation
Women
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Summary:Many global efforts to decrease deforestation have focused on community-based conservation programmes to reach their goals. However, many such programmes are lacking a potentially helpful population, women. We employed key-informant interviews to examine attitudes towards, and barriers to, women's participation in a community-based conservation programme prior to implementation. We conducted 47 semi-structured interviews in January 2015 in communities adjacent to the Vaca Forest Reserve in the Cayo District of Belize. Results indicated that the benefits of involving women in community-based conservation activities included them learning more about the forest and conservation, transferring this knowledge to their family and community, and helping the environment. Some possible barriers to participation included lack of time and motivation to participate. However, there were notable differences between men's and women's responses relating to women's available time and their willingness to participate, with men not mentioning time as a barrier and stating that women would need more motivation to participate. The results will be used to work with local women to collaboratively develop and implement a community-based conservation programme around the Vaca Forest Reserve.
ISSN:0030-6053
1365-3008
DOI:10.1017/S0030605316000715