Gender Perspective for Sustainable Development in Protected Natural Areas (PNA)

Magdalena Lagunas-Vzques, Luis Felipe Beltrn-Morales and Alfredo Ortega-Rubio

Centro de Investigaciones Biolgicas del Noroeste S.C. (CIBNOR S.C.), La Paz, B.C.S., Mxico.
Contact: mlagunas@cibnor.mx

Keywords: Gender Perspective, Sustainability, and Development

Summary:
According to People & Conservation Unit of the World Wildlife Foundation about 80% of the 136
terrestrial ecoregions recommended as priorities by the Global Project, 200 ecoregions are inhabited
by one or more indigenous peoples, and that half of the 6,000 cultures are globally estimated
population of those areas. On a biogeographic basis, all regions, except for the Paleartic maintain
80% or more of its territories inhabited by indigenous peoples (Toledo, 2007). As to languages, 72% of
those spoken in the world are located in 34 regions recognized as hotspots (global biological
significance) (Toledo 2007). These evidences have confirmed that much of the planet biodiversity is
found in indigenous territories (Toledo, 2007), a phenomenon that seems to be fulfilled precisely in
Mexico (Boege, 2005, 2009).
Boege (2009) analysed in Mexico the geographical coincidence of the territories with majority
presence of indigenous population with the regions of greatest importance in biological diversity of
the country proposed by the National Commission for Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity CONABIO
(acronym in Spanish). In applying the criteria, CONABIO found that most indigenous peoples inhabit
them in more than 10,786,914 ha, which represents 26.3% of the surface of National PNAs. Indigenous
people have interacted in long-term processes with ecosystems of high biodiversity (Boege, 2009).
According to Lagunas-Vzques et al., (2016 in review) 46% of the PNAs of Mexico are home to
indigenous population, and 80% of them have rural environment.
The use-management of natural resources by rural populations are conditioned by gender relations
(Soares, 2005). The gender perspective allows building management processes and equitable and
fair environmental management.
1. Relevance
Human equality is required, propped on gender equality to achieve global sustainability.
2. Aims and Objectives
Generate a conceptual and methodological proposal with a gender perspective for application as
a category of social analysis in rural areas.
3. Methods
Gender and sustainable development literature is reviewed, constructing a conceptual proposal
and methodology, gender sensitive to be used with rural communities within a PNA.
4. Results
4.1. Conceptual Proposal: Guide for categorizing components or issues that could be included in
gender analysis of a rural group in a PNA: it is necessary to know about the proposed components
(Table 1), level of knowledge, participation, accountability, inclusion, ownership, access, control,
power distribution, perception of both men and women. In addition to a specific description of the
components and subcomponents both in public and private or personal context (Tables 2 and 3).

Public components
Decisions/governance (level of participation).
Use, access and control of natural, community,

Private components (Personal)

Personal / family decisions (level of participation).
Use, access and control of natural resources.

territorial resources.
Sexual division of labour.
Degradation and environmental impact.
Community and regional spaces.
Perception of nature and biodiversity

Sexual division of labour and responsibilities of home

and family.
Personal and household space.
Perception of nature and biodiversity

Table 1. General guide of the main components or issues that could be included in a gender
analysis. Source: Self.

Components
Decisions/governance (level of participation).

Use, access, and control of natural, community

and land resources.

Division of labuor by sex.

Degradation and environmental impact.

Community and territorial spaces.

Perception of nature and its relationships;

interactions with local biodiversity.

Subcomponents
Decision-Making-Community group
Participation local governance
Management-labour organization
organizational management
Management
Natural resources and land tenure
Types of usufructs of natural resources and
territory
Access to natural resources and land
Exploited natural resources: How and by
whom?
Employee/wages /salary
Temporary Employment Program
Farm, farming, fishing, etc.
Services, crafts (examples: baker, cook, and
others.
Types of environmental impact
Identification of environmental affectation
Types of tenure, ownership, usufruct
(common land territories, community, taken
at sea, ZFMT, federal territories concession,
other concessions)
Recreation
Employment
Neighbouring support
Knowledge and perception of nature (biotic
and abiotic local resources)
Appropriation and use of local nature

Table 2. Description of the components of public ambit. Source: Self.

Components
Personal/family decisions (level of participation).

Use, access and control of natural resources.

Division of labour and responsibilities of home and
family by sex.

Personal and household space.

Subcomponents
Motives
Responsibility
Participation
Distribution
Personal agreements
Labour, educational opportunities
Access
Responsibility
Participation
Employee/wages/salary
Reproduction
Paternal / maternal
Educate, bear child
Daily care
Housework (cooking, fetching water
Carrying firewood, etc.)
Recreation/fun/enjoyment

Perception of nature and biodiversity.

Work/Tasks/responsibilities
Rest breaks / leisure time
Health: emotional, sexual and reproductive
Knowledge and perception of nature (biotic
and abiotic local resources)
Appropriation and use of local nature

Table 3. Components private ambit (personal). Source: Self.

4.2. Proposed Methodology: We should take into account the use of multidisciplinary approach
methodologies: qualitative and participatory (Participation Action Research PAR, Participatory Rural
Appraisal) using a multidisciplinary set of ethnosciences (ethnoecology, ethnobotany and
ethnobiology).
The use of this multidisciplinary set of ethnosciences as main tools in the activities of qualitative
research will be extremely useful for its main objectives; they will have to deal with the coparticipation of a horizontal dialogue, as equals, and with the recognition of local knowledge and
wisdom that have been accumulated with local experience. The ethnographic work includes the
following disciplines: ethnoecology (Reyes-Garca and Sanz, 2007), ethnobotany (Sanabria-Diago,
2011; Hernndez-Xolocotzi et al., 1983), and ethnobiology (Sanabria-Diago, 2011), involving
ethnobotany, ethnozoology, ethnoecology, ethnopedology and ethnomycology. These disciplines
cover much of the traditional and comprehensive knowledge that expresses the enormous cultural
and biological wealth (Lagos-Witte et al., 2011) of certain ethnic human groups, rural and farmers,
among others. Therefore, it requires a team of committed activists-researchers and action research
that necessarily lead to taking a position in any field, in other words, take actions to transform reality
with which the cycle designated as cyclical persistence begins.
4.3. Proposal of a cyclical persistent process of learning-awareness (cyclical persistence) is proposed
with a gender perspective to implement it in a rural setting surrounded by a natural conservation
area. Based on the conceptual framework of Integrated Coastal Management (MCI for its acronym
in Spanish) (Olsen and Tobey, 1999), a cyclical process of learning-awareness (cyclical persistence)
is proposed with a gender approach to implement it in an immersed countryside in a protected
area, see Figure 1. It basically comprises six steps: 1. Systematization; 2. Analysis and reflection; 3. A
specific diagnosis; 4. Development and implementation of strategies; 5. Analysis-reflection
assessment; and 6. Feedback to return and re-start the cycle (adaptive) with more information
(knowledge), experience, and approach. Similar to the cycle of a MCI program, talking about a
mature experience when you have managed to close a cycle and start a new one, i.e. beyond a
generation, according to the experience in MCI, it takes eight to 15 years (mainly for the first round).

1. Characterization /
evaluation
2.
Analysis
and
reflection
3. Specific Diagnosis
4. Implementation of
awareness
5. Analysis-reflection
assessment
6. Feedback

Figure 1. Model of cyclical persistence to be included in a process of awareness-learning with a PNA

gender perspective (conceptual approach taken from Integrated Coastal Management, GESAMP,
1999). Source: Modified from GESAMP, 1999 (Olsen and Tobey, 1999).
Gender perspective in social studies provides visibility to the characteristics of society inequality,
which has traditionally been kept hidden. We can academically consider that it is, among other
things, due to the inadequacy of the theoretical bodies of social sciences to provide explanations to
social inequality between men and women. In this regard, it would be interesting to consider that in
the binary language of hegemonic social sciences, gender perspectives become invisible within
patriarchal curricular environments.
As Virginia Guzmn states (cited in Varela, 2013) gender equality goes far beyond equal
opportunities; it demands the participation of women in the processes of transforming the basic
rules, hierarchies, and practices of public institutions. In this sense, if women are not in areas where
the foundations of a new governance are debated and built, it is not certain that public institutions
will give scope to their different needs and values, including them in training processes of skills and
abilities to be recognized in the same degree as agents of change as the other actors in the public
arena (Varela, 2014). Equity will only be possible if women are included in exercising power in its
broadest sense to create, to know, to direct, to enjoy, to choose, to be chosen, and so on.
Justice, equality, equity, democracy, and other aspects that bridge gender perspectives are an
essential part of the sex difference feminism proclaims; however, the difference goes far beyond
inequality, and diversity is an asset that must be analysed in the epistemological, cultural, social, and
ecological fields. If we address some emerging anthropological perspectives, there is a nascent
human need to promote diversity - understood as renouncing to classical notions of universality in
diversity seen as the cardinal principle of creativity (Ribeiro and Escobar, 2008); another stream of
thought with innovative approaches is in transgressive sociologies (De Souza Santos 2010); as well as
the current colonial Latin America Feminisms (Marcos 2014).
Feminism, in its broadest sense, is an epistemological proposal on domain release: colonialism,
occidentalism, patriarchy, classism, racism, and speciesism. Therefore, ecofeminism was established
(at a given time) in a release method for Mother Earth Dam Devastation world system-west. Men
and women are permeated by machismo, and reproduce it in different degrees but not all/as we
are willing to be responsible for ourselves; nor do we assume, as autonomous individuals, detached
from human/cosmic community. It is urgent to remove the Occidentalism of feminism rethinking the
paradigm of interculturalism within feminism if this wish is to make a contribution to the liberation of
Mother Earth and humanity (Ollanty, 2015).
5. Conclusions
This proposal includes integrative methodological tools out of our conceptual imagination,
generating knowledge confirming with reality, applying multidisciplinary approach, and
ethnosciences; all these tools with a gender perspective.
The proposed methodology is raised exclusively for its use in gender studies to be developed in a
rural context immersed in a natural protected area. It is framed in the scientific discipline of social
anthropology and critical reflection (using the concept of diversity of Ribeiro and Escobar, 2008;
transgressive sociologies of De Souza Santos, 2010; and Colonial Feminism of Marcos, 2014). For its
implementation it is essential to have a multidisciplinary team committed to and conscious of
gender equality.
The proposed cyclical persistence is a process of return where it is undertaken and learnt from
community realities and local knowledge, dialoguing, playing, creating, and experiencing other
ways of relating, including: community praxis, cultural processes, social appropriation processes

framed in historical contexts and berms, empirical, practical, real-experiential, naturalenvironmental, socio-cultural, economic participation in intergenerational learning of social justice;
human experience similar to a spiral of consciousness-opening learning to advance social justice
and humanity.
Systematization and reflection processes are essential at all stages of work done, and on creating
ways to measure (indices, indicators, matrices and others). At each step of implementing the
methodology one should address and answer the following question: What shows that there has
been a change, the idea has managed to take hold transforming reality or diversifying it?
Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank Diana Dorantes for editorial services in English, and Martha Patricia
Hernndez Cortes for help in the presentation of the poster.
References
Boege E. 2008 El patrimonio biocultural de los pueblos indgenas de Mxico. INAH, CDI, Mxico.
Consultado: 25-02-2016. En: http://www.cdi.gob.mx/biodiversidad/ biodiversidad_0_preliminares_131_eckart_boege.pdf
Boege, E. 2009. El reto de la conservacin de la biodiversidad en los territorios de los pueblos
indgenas, En: Dirzo, R., Gonzalez, R., & March, I. J. Capital natural de Mxico, vol. II: Estado de
conservacin y tendencias de cambio. (pp. 603-649). Conabio, Mxico. 819 pp.
De Sousa Santos, B. (2010). Descolonizar el saber, reinventar el poder. Uruguay: Ediciones Trilce.
http://www.boaventuradesousasantos.pt/media/Descolonizar%20el%20saber_final%20%20C%C3%B3pia.pdf
Olsen, S., Lowry, K., & Tobey, J. (1999). Una gua para evaluar el progreso en el manejo costero.
Hacia una metodologa comn de aprendizaje.
Hernndez Xolocotzi, E., Vargas, N., Hernndez, T. G., Meneses, J. M., & Granados, F. B. (1983).
Consideraciones ethnobotnicas de los mercados en Mxico. Revista Geogr. Agric, 4, 13-28.
Lagunas-Vazques M. Beltrn-Morales L.F., Bobadilla-Jimnez M. y A. Ortega-Rubio. 2016. Ruralidad
de las reas Naturales Protegidas (ANPs) de Mxico: la gente de los ecosistemas ms biodiversos
del pas. En Revisin en la Revista digital de investigacin cientfica reas Naturales Protegidas
SCRIPTA.
Marcos S. (2014). Feminismos en camino descolonial. En Ms all del feminismo: caminos para
andar. Mxico: Ed. Mrgara Milln, Red de Feminismos Descoloniales.
Ollantay I. (2015). Por qu muchas indgenas se resisten a algunas corrientes feministas? Rebelin.
En lnea: http://www.rebelion.org/noticia.php?id=196216 Consultado: diciembre, 2015.
Reyes-Garca, V., & Mart-Sanz, N. (2007). Etnoecologa: punto de encuentro entre naturaleza y
cultura. Revista ecosistemas, 16(3).
Ribeiro G. Y A. Escobar. 2008. Antropologas del mundo. Transformaciones disciplinarias dentro del
sistema de poder. Diseo Grfico e Impresiones Popayn, Colombia. 410 pp.
Lagos-Witte, S., Sanabria Diago, O., Chacn, P., & Garca, R. (2011). Manual de herramientas
etnobotnicas relativas a la conservacin y el uso sostenible de los recursos vegetales. RED
LATINOAMERICANA DE BOTNICA A LA IMPLEMENTACIN DE LA ESTRATEGIA GLOBAL PARA LA
CONSERVACIN DE LAS ESPECIES VEGETALES HACIA EL LOGRO DE LAS METAS, 13.

Toledo V. 2007. Repensar la Conservacin: reas Naturales Protegidas o Estrategia Bio-regional?

Consultado: 20-02-2016. En: http://www2.inecc.gob.mx/publicaciones
/gacetas/471/toledo.html
Varela,

N.

2013.

Feminismo

para

principiantes.

Espaa:

Ediciones

B.