WHY WOMEN?
To restore the Earth, we need to understand what has brought us here. The harm to Nature and the harm experienced by women are connected, shaped by the same histories of power, exploitation, and exclusion.
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Across the world, women are still sidelined, silenced, and excluded from decision-making. Yet where women are involved in land stewardship and community decision-making, outcomes are better for forests, food security, and the wider community. Excluding them weakens us all.
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Centring women does not mean excluding others. Quite the opposite, this movement needs everyone. Gender equity and women’s leadership are deeply embedded in every facet of our work, not only because it is the right thing to do, but because restoring Nature and restoring justice are inseparable.
CLIMATE CHANGE IS NOT GENDER-NEUTRAL
Across the world, women are more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. This is not accidental. It’s the result of long-standing inequalities in access to resources, land, education, and decision-making power.
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This is not just about statistics. It’s about who gets to eat when food is scarce, who risks violence when water is far away, and who is heard when communities rebuild after disaster.
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If we want climate solutions that work for everyone, women must be part of the conversation. Their leadership, knowledge, and lived experience are not optional. They are essential.
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THE POWER OF WOMEN IN FOREST CARE
Women have always been stewards of the natural world. They are among the first to notice ecosystem decline, the first to adapt, and often the last to be heard.
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This is not anecdotal. Studies consistently show that where women are involved in land stewardship and community decision-making, outcomes are better, for forests, for food security, for the whole community.
WHY WE CENTRE WOMEN
We cannot restore the Earth without restoring justice. A just future is one where women have equal power, where care is recognised as leadership, and where regeneration is possible because everyone has a voice.
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When women are supported to lead, entire communities benefit. Nature is better protected, and the conditions for life to thrive are strengthened.
“This is new. Before, we were just workers. Now we’re decision-makers.”
- Roselyne Wanjiru, project participant, Kenya
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Our projects create lasting change for women, girls, and their communities by strengthening both livelihoods and leadership, alongside the health of the land itself.
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This includes supporting sustainable income through agroforestry, seed saving, regenerative farming, small business development, and practical skills such as sewing and money management.
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Women are supported through leadership training, governance, and community organising, strengthening local decision-making and collective voice.
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We also work to defend Indigenous women’s land rights and cultural heritage, while creating spaces and resources to address gender-based violence and support safety and wellbeing.
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Communities are improving daily life and environmental health through kitchen gardens for food security, eco-friendly cookstoves that reduce health risks and protect forests, and menstrual health education and supplies that help keep girls in school.
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WHAT IS TREESISTERS DOING?
IN ACTION.
Kasese, Uganda
In communities historically divided by gender in restoration efforts, focusing on gender equity and women’s participation is changing lives.
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Kamalha Annet, from Alpha Women Empowerment Initiative (AWEI), shares: “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.”
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Through projects like these, gender equity is integrated into leadership training, budgeting, and menstrual hygiene education, which has led to less absenteeism in schools and significant progress in community-based restoration efforts. This is real-world change, improving the lives of women, girls, and their communities.
EXPLAINED:
GENDER EQUITY OR 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.
