Gendered perspectives of ecosystem services: A systematic review

Abstract

a b s t r a c tWomen and men often have differential access to and derive different benefits from ecosystem services; therefore, their perception and knowledge of ecosystem services also differ. Understanding these differences is critical to ensuring that policies aimed at enhancing access to and use of ecosystem services can provide benefits to all genders. We conducted a systematic review of studies that aim to understand the relationship between gender and ecosystem service perceptions to summarize research from this emerging topic and to identify patterns between gender and ecosystem service perceptions from different case studies. The results show that highly gendered ecosystem services include medicinal products from forest or mangrove ecosystems and freshwater supply. Women have a stronger perception of water quality and erosion control, soil formation, habitat conservation and sustaining biodiversity. Men, on the other hand, had more knowledge of fuel and timber and extreme event mitigation services. Our review also identifies the limitations of sample size for this interdisciplinary topic, calls for more case studies and comparative studies to identify relationships between gender and ecosystem service perceptions, and calls for the development of models on ecosystem services that incorporate gender. Finally, we discuss how our review can augment existing gender frameworks for policymaking.

Tackling alcoholism and domestic violence in fisheries—A new opportunity to improve well‐being for the most vulnerable people in global fisheries

“…Second, this research illustrates the importance of understanding how men and women depend upon and access natural resources differently (Yang, Passarelli, Lovell, & Ringler, ). Our study from South Asia found that women living with aspects of alcohol and domestic abuse in their homes may have a much higher dependency on marine resources than women who have better marital relations.…”

Application of the Ecosystem Service Concept in Social–Ecological Systems—from Theory to Practice

“…Various studies have reported the diverging perceptions of the demand, importance, and value of ESs among different stakeholders and users (contributions 4, 10, and 11). Diverging perceptions of ESs can be caused by knowledge gaps, as identified by Paschoud et al (contribution 10), among tourists and farmers on farms in the Italian Alps or by the diverging stakeholders' demands for ESs [15] and the valuation of their benefits [16,17].…”

Assessing the Role of Gender in Identifying and Prioritizing Local Ecosystem Services of Trees in Croplands

“…The other 8 ecosystem services (food, fuelwood, medicine, rainfall regulation, shade, soil conservation, soil fertility, timber) were commonly identified by both men and women. This could be related to that both men and women share and get access to the commonly identified ecosystem services and awareness creation might be conducted by experts to local beneficiaries on the ecosystem services especially on the rainfall regulation services [9]. Both men and women may also have interaction with trees in their croplands regularly in a similar way and the selected respondents all engage in farming with trees in their cropland.…”

“…Nevertheless, women lack access to and control of the ecosystems and their respective ecosystem services. As a result, women are discriminated against in using or benefiting from ecosystem services [8,12,9]. The gender differences in prioritization of ecosystem services could arise due to many intersecting factors such as socioeconomic status, age, culture, and access to information and educational backgrounds [9].…”

“…Therefore, the participation of gender has an important advantage to gather and identify various ecosystem services and understand prioritization differences [8]. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) target to mobilize efforts to end poverty, discriminations, inequalities, and minimize climate change with inclusive participation [9]. It also takes gendered considerations for attaining its objectives.…”