“Somos pocas, pero buenas”: A case study of women’s participation within community forestry in the Maya Biosphere Reserve, Guatemala

Abstract: Community forestry has been promoted as a participatory approach for conservation and sustainable development. Yet, community forestry was found to exclude women in different contexts around the globe. Utilizing a Feminist Political Ecology perspective the purpose of this study was to explore women’s participation within community forestry in Petén, Guatemala in order to contribute to the understanding of women in community forestry. Through a case study approach I analyzed how women participate in two different community forest enterprises and what factors have shaped women’s participation. I found that women participate in different spaces and levels of participation, but are barely involved in decision making. Women’s limited participation in community forestry was found to be rooted in how gender is constructed, existing social norms and perceptions of gender roles, entrenched claims of men holding power as well as personal and household endowments and attributes which create barriers for women to participate. However, gendered power relations seem to be changing on a national, local and intra-household setting. External actors have been shaping women’s participation and pushing the inclusion of women. Although some women have become more actively involved, women are far from having the opportunity to equally engage in decision making in this case of community forestry.