Essential Connections: Linking Gender to Effective Natural Resource Management and Sustainable Development

The gender variable is central to positioning both men and women vis-a-vis institutions that determine access to land, to other resources, and to the wider economy. Analysts must conceptualize gender for the purpose of desegregating and interpreting information about the functioning of individuals, households and community organizations in managing their natural resources. This paper situates such analysis in the literature from political and cultural ecology and from institutional and community organization. It identifies issues and themes relevant to understanding the role of gender in managing natural resources and argues that a new integrative approach must emerge to conceptualize the ecological and organization complexity. It also argues that attention to gender is central to increasing the equity and effectiveness of local-level management of natural resources. -from Author