Gender equality in forestry employment: How international frameworks and National Gender Agenda are reflected in Türkiye's forest policy

Integration of gender equality and women's employment into forestry governance has gained increasing prominence within international and national policy agendas. This study examines how international forestry and environmental frameworks, national gender equality and employment policy agendas, influence women's employment within Türkiye's forest policy and intersecting domains. Content analysis was conducted on approximately 40 international and 100 national policy and strategy documents. International frameworks have emphasized women's rights in environmental governance, access to education and employment, leadership opportunities, and empowerment through legal, economic, and institutional mechanisms. Early national policies focused on rural women's empowerment, legal protections, and basic education. Since the 2000s, Türkiye's gender equality agenda has expanded to include economic empowerment, vocational training, rural inclusion, political participation, work-life balance, and the integration of gender-environment linkages. These priorities are selectively reflected in forest policy and intersecting domains, particularly through rural development, climate adaptation, and livelihood oriented interventions emphasizing inclusion, capacity-building, and socio-economic adaptation. Despite this expansion, integration of gender equality in women's employment into forest policy agenda remains limited, particularly with regard to formal employment, leadership, and institutional transformation. The findings highlight the need to: (i) embed gender equality and women's empowerment into forest policy through binding measures, addressing work–life balance, professional education, and public/private sector employment. (ii) institutionalize gender-responsive governance, particularly in leadership and decision-making, promoting coherent integration of forestry, gender equality, and employment policies, and addressing power imbalances for long-term institutional transformation, (iii) Strengthen policy coherence across national forest policy, international frameworks, and gender and employment agendas.