Challenging gender inequity in wildlife conservation: a women’s group leading sea turtle conservation efforts in El Salvador

ABSTRACT

Effective management of natural resources often requires diverse strategies implemented by a variety of conservation practitioners. Despite stark gender inequality challenges in many regions of the world, women can and do play a fundamental role in conservation initiatives in rural and other communities. However, examples of women’s involvement in conservation initiatives, notably in Latin America, are limited in the literature. We conducted interview-based research to learn more about the role that a women-led group named the Asociación de Desarrollo Comunal de Mujeres de la Barra de Santiago (AMBAS) – plays in sea turtle and other conservation initiatives in an artisanal fishing community in rural El Salvador. We identified four major themes from interview and survey responses (1. gender challenges; 2. interest in helping the environment; 3. local ecological knowledge; 4. community perceptions) that underscore the value of incorporating women’s ecological knowledge into conservation efforts while also drawing attention to the continued challenges that women face in environmental decision making. These data also suggest that conservation strategies that provide both environmental and economic benefits can inspire conservation commitment, regardless of whether they are led by men or women. This study contributes to the nascent dataset of examples highlighting the essential roles of women in conservation, and reinforces the notion that multi-gender participation is essential to maximise positive impact in conservation and wildlife recovery.

KEYWORDS:

• conservation
• sea turtles
• women
• hatchery
• gender inequality
• local ecological knowledge
• El Salvador

Acknowledgements

We thank Katie Wedemeyer-Strombel for her help in developing early research ideas and providing her expertise on sea turtles in Central America. We would also like to thank Salvadoran biologist Eder Caceros Monzón for interview assistance, and José Maria Argueta from the Mangrove Association for interview and translation assistance. Finally, we would like to give a heartfelt thank you to all the residents of Barra de Santiago for welcoming us into their community, to Rosa Aguilar Lovato de Villeda and Toño Lovato de Villeda for welcoming us into their home, and to all of the strong women of AMBAS for sharing their time and thoughts with us.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Ethics approval

This research (Project #170820) was reviewed by the Director of the University of San Diego (UCSD) Human Research Protection Program, Institutional Review Board (IRB) Chair, or IRB Chair’s designee and is certified as not qualifying as human subjects research according to the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 45, part 46 and UCSD Standard Operating Policies and Procedures; and therefore, does not require IRB review. The lead author can provide the documentation with this determination upon request.