In the Amazon, women are key to forest conservation

Women everywhere are key voices for conservation, and an increasing body of research now recognizes the direct link between gender equality and environmental protection.

Mongabay has published a number of stories lately focused on successful Amazonian conservation initiatives led by women activists and scientists, and we wanted to highlight the issue on this episode of the podcast.

Sarah Sax recently wrote about the Women Warriors of the Forest, an all-female indigenous group that is employing new tactics and building new alliances to protect the forests they call home. Sax joins us to discuss the Women Warriors and some of her other recent reporting that has centered on women conservation leaders in the Amazon.

We’re also joined by Dr. Dolors Armenteras, who was the subject of a recent profile published by Mongabay. Armenteras is known as a pioneer in the use of remote sensing to monitor Amazon forests and biodiversity, and has been named one of the most influential scientists studying forest fires.

Despite her prominence, Armenteras has faced discrimination as a woman scientist, and shares with us how she has navigated that and how she supports the next generation of women scientists to overcome such biases.

Episode artwork of Maisa Guajajara at the march of Indigenous women in Brasilia, 2019, courtesy Marquinho Mota/FAOR.

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