Gender, conservation, and community participation: The case of the Jau National Park, Brazil

Abstract

This case study examines the Fundacao Vitoria Amazonica's (FVA) efforts to include gender and community participation in its conservation program in the Jau National Park (PNJ). The document is guided by the MERGE conceptual framework and analyzes the potential for community-based conservation based on social and political factors, stakeholders' interests, gendered access to and use of resources, and matters of sustainability. The FVA suggests that a strategy of combined community and institutional participation, along with the recognition and integration of gender-specific issues, is the most effective way of reaching its goal of consolidating the PNJ.