Ruth Konia
Women are largely being excluded from decisions about conservation and natural resources, with potentially detrimental effects on conservation efforts globally, according to research.
UQ PhD candidate and Nature Conservancy director of conservation in Melanesia Robyn James said it was no secret that females were underrepresented in conservation science.
"In fact, according to a recent analysis of 1,051 individual top-publishing authors in ecology, evolution, and conservation research, only 11 percent were women," James said. "We analyzed more than 230 peer-reviewed articles attempting to address this very problem, confirming an uncomfortable truth: women's voices are critically lacking in conservation."
She added: "We found that gender discrimination is systemic and consistent, from small and remote communities in places such as the Solomon Islands to large conservation and natural resource management organizations, where women are still underrepresented in leadership and decision-making positions. And this seemingly impacts conservation outcomes directly.