Women in the Environmental Arena | What Obstacles Do Women Conservationists Face?

Budget shortfalls, administrative barriers and a lack of consistent support are among the shared challenges facing active women in environmental fields. These challenges were described by researchers, civil activists and nature conservation advocates at the second session 'From Experience to Impact: Women and the Environment.'

Ambassador Arjan-Zahra Rafiei: The participants in this meeting talked about their experiences in environmental education, reducing plastic consumption, protecting endangered species, and recording the experiences of veterans, and emphasized the need to support people's activities and facilitate cooperation with responsible institutions. Sheena Ansari, head of the Environmental Protection Organization, emphasized the continuation of these meetings, documenting the experience of women and turning the discussions into practical measures as one of the goals of this program.

They still think that the environment is a luxury

Zahra Abedi, director of the Environmental Management Department of Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Unit, emphasized in her speech the importance of practical experience alongside research activities and the necessity of connecting different disciplines to solve environmental issues. According to him, the environment is a multifaceted field and its issues cannot be investigated by relying only on one expertise; Rather, using the knowledge of related fields and recognizing the implementation limitations is a part of the research process and achieving effective solutions.

Reviewing his scientific path, he said from the beginning of research activities during his student days; When he was involved in several projects related to statistical data, mathematical models and economic calculations. This experience provided him with familiarity with modeling and the application of mathematical methods in investigating energy and economic issues.

Abedi further mentioned his researches about production factors in different industrial sectors. One of the main problems in these studies was the lack of sufficient data to examine the relationship between energy, capital and technology indicators. According to him, these limitations caused the research approach to change and the role of technology and economic structures to be examined more carefully. He explained that the results of some of these studies became important years later in investigations related to energy policy and technology transfer.

Another part of his activities was devoted to environmental economics, valuation of natural resources and estimation of environmental damages. Referring to the research collaborations in the field of valuation, climate change and investigating the effect of industrial activities on the environment, Abedi said: The valuation of protected areas such as Arjan and Parshan, Shadgan, Miankalah, etc., the estimation of damages caused by industrial production in Asaluyeh, the impact of climate change with 5 mathematical modeling in Gando habitat and 130 other habitats were among the projects we did.

He said: Calculating the costs of production and consumption is necessary to know the real dimensions of the damages. Until the external costs of economic activities are estimated, a complete picture of their consequences cannot be obtained.

He also addressed the issue of green productivity and accounting for the flow of materials, energy and water in production processes. In this approach, the amount of resource consumption and the amount of wasted or polluting materials are checked in different stages of production in order to provide the possibility of reducing waste, recycling and returning materials to the production cycle.

Abedi emphasized that increasing productivity in industries can help reduce the pressure on the environment. At the same time, he mentioned the lack of funds and the inattention of some policymakers to the economic and social value of the environment as obstacles that make research activities and the use of their results difficult. They still consider the environment a luxury issue.

The experience of the formation of environmental education for women

Javaherian, one of the veterans in the field of environment and women's affairs, dedicated an important part of his speech to the experience of setting up environmental education programs for women in the 1370s and early 1380s.

He explained that after accepting the responsibility of women's affairs in the Environmental Protection Organization, he encountered a group that did not have enough human resources, funds and facilities. According to him, at that time, the activities of women's affairs were mainly limited to holding special events and participating in some meetings; Therefore, in order to turn this area into an effective program, it was necessary to develop an independent plan and obtain the resources it needs from other sources.

Javaherian spoke about the design of a plan entitled "Environmental promotion of women to achieve sustainable development" which had two main parts: environmental education outside the organization and improving the conditions and increasing the awareness of working women in the organization.

In the first part, universities and specialized forces were invited to cooperate for the implementation of programs. The initial activity was carried out in four provinces and about 80 urban and rural areas. About three thousand questionnaires were completed in order to know the level of awareness of the society about the environment and educational programs were designed based on the results. In the next stage, 320 people were trained and some of them were selected as trainers to continue the training in their regions.

According to Javaherian, this program expanded in the following years and covered 28 provinces in three years. Despite this expansion, the supply of resources was still the main problem. Referring to the limitation of the environmental education budget, he described the amount of allocated credit in a way that made it difficult to plan extensively and continuously. The limited cooperation of the media and the difficulty of broadcasting educational programs were also among the other obstacles he mentioned.

Javaherian also announced the publication of educational books and publications in plain language for women, especially rural women, and said that this program, along with educational activities, helped increase women's awareness and participation. According to him, this plan was among the top programs in the field of research and women's affairs in 2013.

Another part of her experience was related to women working in the Environmental Protection Agency. Javaherian explained that in the beginning, many female employees did not know about the duties and facilities of women's affairs. For this reason, programs were considered to familiarize them with their rights and increase their participation in organizational activities.

One of these programs was to visit refineries, industries and areas managed by the organization. The goal was for female employees to get to know the practical activities of the organization and protected areas, in addition to a collective experience and increasing motivation. Javaherian emphasized that such programs can strengthen employees' participation and increase their awareness of the organization's environmental missions.

Ten years of media activity for nature

Manya Shafahi, the editor of Sanobar quarterly magazine and an activist in the field of media and environment, narrated the experience of ten years of publication of "Sanobar" magazine. He said: After about 15 years of working in a consulting engineering group, he decided to start a new career path; A decision that originated from the concern of doing something useful for his land.

Getting to know Ali Dehbashi and proposing to publish a publication about nature and environment was the starting point of this path. Shafahi had no experience in the media field at first and dedicated the first years of his activity to learning, trial and error, finding suitable colleagues and introducing the publication. According to him, at the beginning, many did not take this activity seriously, but the continuation of the work gradually allowed the magazine to find its place.

He considered word of mouth to be the most important factor in the sustainability of this activity. He explained that the purpose of publishing the magazine was not simply to produce a media product, but an attempt was made to create a continuous dialogue about the nature of Iran, social responsibility and the possibility of change.

However, the continuation of the activity has been associated with economic problems, increased costs, lack of serious and continuous support from related institutions, and difficulties in cultural and media work. He said: In difficult economic conditions, maintaining and continuing such an activity becomes more difficult every day, but the desire to create new ideas is still there.

Shafahi stated that one of the most important lessons of these ten years is to distance oneself from perfectionism. According to him, continuing does not always mean going without flaws; Sometimes, to keep an activity alive, you have to be flexible, distance yourself from part of the ideals and adapt to the conditions.

He also pointed to the role of colleagues, professors and veterans of the environment in the continuation of this path. Talking to long-standing figures and recording part of their memories and experiences is not only a media activity, but has provided an opportunity to record part of the oral history of Iran's environment. He considered the appreciation of veterans and attention to their experiences as valuable achievements of this activity.

According to Shafahi, accompanying environmental activists from different cities, audience messages, attending programs and following up on the publication of new issues have shown that this activity has meaning for others as well. He believes that sometimes the effectiveness of a collection is not in a big and measurable achievement, but in keeping hope alive and motivating others to continue their activities.

Shafahi also emphasized the role of women in environmental activities and considered the ability to start again, endure difficulties and maintain hope among the characteristics that can contribute to the sustainability of social activities.

Protecting an endangered species by relying on public participation

Ferishte Alamshah said about the experience of people's group activity in the protection of Isfahan's Aphanius or zebra fish, an endangered aquatic species; According to him, the activity started in 2014 with the gathering of a group of people interested in the environment and art.

According to Alamshah, the group initially operated with limited resources and its members had different backgrounds; Among the people who used to hunt, but later joined conservation activities. This group gradually realized the poor condition of Aphanius and the threats in its habitat and worked to protect it.

He explained: The initial follow-ups for the official protection of the habitat did not reach the desired result, and part of the people of the region were also concerned about the possible consequences of protection restrictions, including its impact on agriculture. In response to these conditions, the group limited its activity for a while and identified the remaining habitats and existing threats.

Ferishte Alamshah said that during this period, the members of the group, along with the researchers, investigated the condition of Aphanius and tried to increase its population. However, the increase in tourism and the introduction of non-native or invasive fish into some habitats created new challenges and increased the need for public information and support.

He spoke about a series of measures to expand people's participation; including talking to farmers, training in schools, holding contests and art exhibitions, creating youth groups for field protection, communicating with universities and collaborating with domestic and foreign researchers.

One of the actions of this group was to provide a space for free education for children and women of the region. In this space, children engaged in artistic activities and women also had the opportunity to learn handicrafts. The goal was to create a community place and increase communication with the local community; A connection that could strengthen the field of participation in nature protection.

Alamshah also talked about trying to create a safe habitat and building a seven-meter statue of Aphanius. According to him, the use of art and communication with sports clubs and other social groups also played a role in introducing the importance of protecting this species.

In part of his speech, he announced the increase in the population of this species and said that the population of this fish in one of the habitats has increased from 5 to 1,500 and that this population can be very fragile even though it has increased 100 times with the start of the bird migration season.

Alamshah further criticized the problems of cooperation with the responsible institutions. According to him, grassroots activists are sometimes faced with answers about the lack of funds, facilities or executive power; While some of the problems can be solved through follow-up, interaction and finding alternative solutions, and no money is needed at all.

Referring to the story of his personal car being set on fire after he and his team stopped the operation of the potash mine, he said: In the days of the war, when no one thought of it, in the campaign that Mr. Mohammad Darwish launched, 2,538 people collected money for the purchase of a car, but the inflation swallowed it in three months, and I preferred to rent and start Afanius' house in Isfahan with it. We have built a cafe next to it to pay the rent for the spring.

Criticizing the acquired rights, in which a miner who only for a period of exploration and extraction of minerals can use that as an excuse to destroy the land, he said: environmental activists are involved in a kind of despair that is caused by the behavior and treatment of environmental managers in the provinces. They do not associate with people at all. They assume that everything in the environment requires money when all we want is their company.