Integrating Gender Concerns into Natural Resource Management

The deep shift after the late 1970s in ways of thinking, seeing and acting led to the quest for small localised narratives, and participatory approaches committed to equity. This paper describes an attempt to integrate a participatory approach and gender concerns in problem anal ysis, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation in a project to conserve and manage the Pichavaram mangrove forests in Tamil Nadu. It also deals with the process of enhancing the equitable socioeconomic impacts of the intervention in the coastal villages, sensitising the forest officials, and developing their skills and those of the village community to facilitate women's participation at all levels. In the gender-sensitive micro-plan prepared to address the concerns identified through participatory rural appraisal, both men and women shared responsibilities: meeting government officials, legitimising their tribal identity, constructing and running an elementary school, and restoring and managing the mangroves. This process has enhanced the women's self-confidence, their capacity to save, and their control over income and mobility.