Premium
Gender and Biodiversity: A New Approach to Linking Environment and Development
Author(s) -
Momsen Janet Henshall
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
geography compass
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.587
H-Index - 65
ISSN - 1749-8198
DOI - 10.1111/j.1749-8198.2007.00011.x
Subject(s) - agricultural biodiversity , biodiversity , grassroots , context (archaeology) , convention on biological diversity , food security , variety (cybernetics) , agriculture , environmental planning , convention , geography , environmental resource management , political science , natural resource economics , business , politics , biology , ecology , economics , archaeology , artificial intelligence , computer science , law
The 1992 Convention on Biological Conservation and the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (1996) reflect the growing importance of biodiversity for environmental conservation and as a way of maintaining the genetic variety needed for plant breeding and providing new sources of medicines. More recently, agrobiodiversity has been seen as vital for food security in developing countries. This article considers the need to understand decision‐making for biodiversity at the grassroots. To achieve this, gender roles, as influenced by gender divisions of labour in food production and the gendered use of different environmental spaces, have to be considered. Women's roles in seed selection and seed saving and use of wild plants for food and medicines play a major role in biodiversity conservation, but these roles are not unchanging and are increasingly influenced by global trade networks and geographical context.