WACE · Women at the Cutting Edge. Assessing the gendered impact of industrial logging on well-being in Solomon Islands.

Women at the Cutting Edge. Assessing the gendered impact of industrial logging on well-being in Solomon Islands.

This project has assessed how and why industrial logging affects men and women differently. Using empirical, qualitative data from an ethnographic case-study of the logging industry in Solomon Islands, it demonstrates the highly inequitable nature of the country’s logging industry, and its particularly negative impacts on women. In addition, through this project, case-studies on the wider social impacts of logging from around the globe are compiled in a peer-reviewed special issue of a scientific journal that is read by forestry professionals. Worldwide, China is the main importer and exporter of tropical hardwood. The majority of this wood presently comes from the Pacific, in particular from Papua New Guinea and neighboring Solomon Islands. In these two countries, the logging industry is notorious for its unsustainable character and its high rates of illegality in timber felling. However, there has been less systematic attention to the social impacts of industrial logging, and especially for its impacts on gender-relations. While it is well-known that women generally benefit the least from the logging industry and that they are often adversely affected by its environmental and social impacts, the literature on this matter is fragmented. There is also little understanding of how and why individual women’s experiences may vary depending on their positions within society. Moreover, the importance of gender-equitable logging practices hardly receives attention from policy and industry. This project documents and generates insight on how women and men living in logging concessions in Solomon Islands experience the impacts of logging during and after logging operations. It takes into account both objective aspects of well-being, such as the impact of logging on income, shelter, and food-security; as well as subjective aspects of well-being, notably relationships with others and safety. The project’s outputs include peer-reviewed scientific papers, reports and recommendations directed at a policy audience and articles meant for the wider public. Through these outputs the project aims to contribute to more equitable logging practices, and therey improved well-being of women and men living in logging concessions. While the timber harvesting processes that are at the core of this project take place in the Pacific and other tropical regions, the implications are highly relevant for the EU. The EU is committed to sustainable imports of tropical hardwood. In practice this means that the Union will maximize its imports of certified timber. While the standards and criteria of these timber certification systems do take into account the social impacts of the logging industry, including its gender impacts, this project shows that there is much room for improvement in how these criteria are formulated, implemented and monitored. Addressing the challenges in gender-equitable timber production and processing is vital in light of the EU’s committment to sustainable forest management. Further reading: The Great Timber Heist (Oakland Institute): https://www.oaklandinstitute.org/sites/oaklandinstitute.org/files/PNG_Great_Timber_Heist_final_web.pdf Paradise Lost: How China can help Solomon Islands protect its forests: (Global Witness) https://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/forests/paradise-lost/ IOM (International Organization for Migration). 2019. Community health and mobility in the Pacific: Solomon Islands Case Study. Honiara: IOM.

Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз