Earth Today | Everyone gains with inclusive conservation

ASK ANY woman living along a coastline battered by last hurricane season’s storms what recovery looks like and she will likely describe not just rebuilding a physical home but holding together a family, a fishing community, and a way of life. That experience and expertise goes unrecognised far too often.

Climate change is not affecting everyone equally. Women across the Caribbean shoulder disproportionate burdens during and after disasters such as managing households, caring for children and the elderly, and sustaining communities while facing long-standing barriers to land, finance, and leadership.

The IDB’s Value for Women study found that these gaps directly reduce women’s capacity to adapt to climate threats, noting that “women are key drivers of environmental, agricultural, and income diversification necessary to promote climate resilience in Caribbean communities”.

Yet, women are not waiting for permission. Across the region, they are restoring mangroves that shield coastlines, managing marine reserves that sustain fisheries, and building nature-based enterprises that link livelihoods to healthy ecosystems.

Inclusion in conservation is not just a matter of fairness, as the same study noted, “there is an opportunity at the intersection of climate and gender finance to increase investment in climate resilience, traditionally receiving fewer resources when compared to mitigation efforts from global climate change finance mechanisms”.

“When women are included in conservation decision-making, the solutions are stronger because they reflect the full picture. Women bring knowledge, lived experience, and a deep connection to the ecosystems that sustain our families. Gender-responsive conservation is about effectiveness, not just fairness,” said Karen McDonald Gayle, chief executive officer at the Caribbean Biodiversity Fund (CBF).

The CBF is a regional environmental fund dedicated to ensuring long-term financing for conservation and sustainable development across the Caribbean. In 13 years, CBF has disbursed more than USD35 million across 16 countries, supporting coral reef and mangrove restoration, protected area management, and sustainable livelihoods.

Through its Caribbean Organisation for Resilient Environment project, the CBF channels grants to local organisations implementing gender-responsive, nature-based climate solutions across eight countries. The Caribbean Blue Economy Financing project is similarly working to unlock sustainable marine and coastal financing, with gender equality among its core outcomes.

With the recent the celebration of International Women’s Day, observed under the theme ‘Rights. Justice. Action. For ALL Women and Girls’, we are reminded that the Caribbean has both the evidence and the opportunity to act. Investing in inclusive conservation, where women have equal access to resources, leadership, and decision-making, is the region’s strongest strategy for a more climate-resilient future.

Contributed by Cordia Chambers-Johnson, diversity, equity, inclusiveness, and justice officer with the Caribbean Biodiversity Fund.