WHY WOMEN?
Addressing gender inequality is essential for achieving better environmental outcomes and a healthier planet.
WHY DO TREESISTERS CENTRE WOMEN?
Women are the heart of our planet’s healing. When women are involved in decision making communities thrive, ecosystems heal, and future generations are protected. From planting trees to safeguarding sacred lands, women worldwide are rising as powerful guardians of nature, weaving care, wisdom, and resilience into every step. Together, we’re reclaiming balance and nurturing a greener future for all.
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Climate change is not gender-neutral.
Women are disproportionately affected due to underlying socioeconomic, political, and legal barriers woven into the fabric of our society. Empowering women and ensuring their inclusion in planning and decision-making is essential for effective climate change solutions.
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Women often hold essential local knowledge, expertise and perspectives that can significantly contribute to climate change mitigation, disaster reduction and adaptation strategies for a more sustainable future.
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Women also hold invaluable knowledge for the care and restoration of forests. They are more likely to rely on forests for resources, and studies show that when women participate in forest-care decision-making, projects see better outcomes for both forests and communities. Yet despite this, women are often excluded from decision-making, perpetuating gender injustice and hindering forest protection, restoration and climate action. Gender inequality ultimately harms forest ecosystems, highlighting the importance of equitable participation in forest care for the benefit of women, their communities and our forests.
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Centering women in TreeSisters challenges and seeks to correct historical and systemic power imbalances while honoring women's unique contributions to environmental healing. This is not about excluding or diminishing men—everyone, regardless of gender, is welcome and needed to support our mission because a more equal society and restoring balance with nature benefits us all.
WE CHAMPION GENDER EQUITY.
Gender equity and women’s empowerment are deeply embedded in all our work.
We recognise and value the unique knowledge held by women in many cultures and their essential role in sustainable land use and community resource management. We challenge dominant power structures by integrating gender equity into all our work and centring the voices of women in our projects. Redressing the balance through gender-equitable approaches at all levels is critical to slowing and reversing the damage done to our precious Earth. By centring women, we move towards a world where nature and people flourish in connection, equity and harmony.
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You can support this work by becoming a month donor today.
WHAT WE ARE DOING?
Our approach is a powerful call to action to reclaim balance and justice in community forestry. By centring women—whose voices have too long been sidelined—we’re not just planting trees; we’re planting the seeds of a transformative shift towards a more equal future. Here, are just some of the ways our projects are empowering women around the globe:
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🌳 Recognising Women’s Wisdom: We will honour and elevate women’s invaluable knowledge and vital role in land use and reforestation, ensuring their contributions are finally seen and celebrated.
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🌱 Women Leading the Way: Women will not just participate in restoration; they will lead it as recognised foresters, decision-makers, and guardians of their lands.
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💪 Empowering Women’s Agency: Women will have the power to shape the future of their communities, making decisions that protect their environment and heritage.
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🌿 Reducing Risks, Lifting Burdens: Through reforestation, training, agroforestry and income generation, we are creating safer, more resilient landscapes for all our female reforesters.
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Together, we are reimagining restoration—where women rise as the true stewards of their forests and the architects of a more just, green future.
IN ACTION.
Kasese, Uganda
In communities that have historically seen a gender divide in restoration efforts, focussing on gender equity and women’s participation can change lives.
Kamalha Annet from Alpha Women Empowerment Initiative (AWEI), one of our restoration partners, shared, “Women will be able to gain more skills. For example, when we’re in the field with some of the farmers, men are supposed to be the ones to plant trees. But nowadays, we are training the women to know how to plant them. If someone is a widow, you can train them and learn how to plant trees, not necessarily that men are supposed to be the ones to plant trees.”.
This project with ITF and AWEI has gender equity as a core aim, integrating leadership training, planning and budgeting and reusable sanitary pads and menstrual hygiene training for school-age girls, which is already resulting in less absenteeism from schools alongside its reforestation goals. These are real-world impacts improving the lives of women, girls and whole communities.
EXPLAINER:
GENDER EQUITY OR GENDER EQUALITY?
What is the difference between gender equity and gender equality? Often used interchangeably, these terms have very different meanings and, therefore, different implications for the best approach to reaching gender balance.
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While gender equality refers to the equal treatment of genders in all areas, gender equity goes a step further by acknowledging the fact that women (and all who do not identify as cis-male) have historically been disadvantaged and, therefore, require different treatment and accommodations to level the playing field. In other words, gender equity recognises that equality cannot be achieved by treating everyone equally but by providing different levels of support and resources as needed to ensure everyone has an equal opportunity to succeed.
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"Gender equity includes the spectrum of genders recognised by bioregional communities. All genders need equality in access to trees and forests for their mental and physical health."
- Rooted in Ethics, TreeSisters.
"There's a solid base of evidence showing that women are disproportionately vulnerable to climate change, not because there is something inherently vulnerable about women, but because of socio-cultural structures that deprive women of access to resources, decision-making, information, agency, etc."
- Marina Andrijevic, research analyst, Climate Analytics.
