In our last piece in this series, we explored women protecting nature and changing their own destinies across Africa. Now, we turn to some important initiatives in Latin America.
Brazil
Amazonian mangroves not only provide habitats for marine animals but also contribute to the fight against climate change by shielding the land from storms and absorbing five times more carbon than forests. Brazil’s mangroves represent about 10% of those left in the world, and 80% of the country’s supply can be found in three states, including Pará. However, Brazil’s Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation estimates that a quarter of the country’s mangroves have been destroyed since 1900.
Photo Courtesy Alex Gonzo
In the name of conservation, extractive reserves have been created across Brazil, serving as sustainable use protective areas where local communities can continue fishing, harvesting, and hunting. There are 12 such reserves in Pará.
“Only community members can live from the local biodiversity,” Monique Galvão, vice president at Rare Brasil Institute, explained to Mongabay. “It means that big companies from the private sector cannot be there, for example.”
In 2021, Purpose Climate Lab and Rare Brasil joined together to launch a publicity campaign called Mothers of the Mangrove.
Four videos, running from July to September, explored women’s roles as coastal guardians across Pará, with a message of the importance of preserving the mangrove ecosystem.
For example, Episode 2, “Meeting of Waters,” focused on the roles of women in catching fish. One woman, Miraci Negrão de Lima, said, “Who survives from the mangrove needs to protect it because otherwise it collapses. Everywhere you take it, if you don’t conserve it, it will end.” Besides reaching 86,900,000 people through promotional coverage, the campaign connected women from all 12 coastal RESEX in Pará, ultimately leading to the creation of the Pará Coastal Women’s Network.
After the campaign’s success, Mother of the Mangrove became a network in collaboration with Rare Brasil for the collective harmony of the mangroves and the local people. For example, it provides financial education classes and aims to teach women how to bridge the gap between banking services and obtaining digital bank accounts.
It has also created savings clubs enabling women to contribute to collective or individual funds for things like emergency reserves.
Sixty such clubs aim to help 900 members, including 360 women, save R$250,000 to re-invest for extra income.
“I breathe the mangrove,” Negrão de Lima described to Planemata. “My family breathes the mangrove. And, for me, the network is incredibly important in raising awareness related to the mangrove. And, as a network, we also fight so that we, women shellfish harvesters, will be more valued.”
Colombia
In 2003, Sara Inés Lara took over as executive director of Fundación ProAves, which currently operates 28 nature reserves across Colombia to protect threatened species. Around the same time, she launched Women for Conservation in honor of her mother, Amparo, who was endlessly devoted to empowering rural women but, unfortunately, died when Lara was just 19.
Over the course of their intertwined histories, the two organizations have collaborated to advance women-focused projects at nature reserves across the country. This effort has included providing environmental education to children.
The Rana Chiva educational bus, in particular, has driven to schools nationwide, teaching young students about protecting endangered species like the Lynch’s Colombian tree frog, reaching 21,527 children between 2022 and 2023.
Additionally, the organizations train women to launch microbusinesses making and selling sustainable artisan crafts so their families can pivot away from harmful industries like logging or poaching. Between 2019 and 2023, Women for Conservation says it impacted the lives of more than 33,000 people worldwide.
Photo Courtesy Women For Conservation
One of its most recent sources of impact is at the El Jaguar Amazon Research Station. The Women Research Grants program was formed after the Universidad del Rosario found that less than 40% of natural sciences researchers in Colombia are women.
“There is no evidence that gender-based role divisions in science yield better results,” Lara explained in a blog post. “On the contrary, achieving a gender balance in scientific processes, as we see in nature, would be more beneficial.”
Photo Courtesy Women For Conservation
In June, the first five female researchers were selected for their projects focused on threatened species listed on the IUCN Red List, including the Amazon Pink River Dolphin, Giant River Otter, Harpy Eagle, Jaguar, and Tapir.
Luisa Díaz noticed a loss of knowledge while researching antimicrobial-resistant pathogens in the habitats of the Pink Amazonian River Dolphin and Giant River Otter.
“These species have been forgotten by the younger generations and are no longer remembered as they once were,” Díaz said in the blog post. “This is what we observed through our fieldwork. That’s why it’s crucial to focus on education to preserve this generational knowledge.”
Díaz and the other women are receiving funding and support from Women for Conservation and ProAves, and their findings will be published. The organizations also plan to expand the station to provide 15 female researchers with scholarships and train 40 women to be environmental stewards across the El Jaguar ProAves Reserve and the Águila Arpía ProAves Reserve.
This series will be continued with a closer look at South Asia.
