BHUBANESWAR: Environment protection and solution to climate change are not possible without gender justice, opined former principal chief conservator of forests (PCCF) of Kerala Prakriti Srivastava here on Saturday.
Addressing the 16th Odisha Environment Congress at Rama Devi Women’s University here, Srivastava said that women are more affected by environmental imbalance and climate change and existing gender inequality further aggravates these challenges. There is an urgent need to prioritise gender justice in environmental governance, he said.
Highlighting gender disparity in the forestry sector, she pointed out that out of around 3,100 Indian Forest Service (IFS) officers in the country, only 284 are women. Similarly, among 2.5 lakh field-level forest staff in the country, women number would roughly be about 5,000.
While women play a crucial role in forest conservation, such stark gender imbalance among forest officers and staff is a matter of concern, she said.
Former administrator and president of the Congress Aurobindo Behera pointed out that lack of balance between environment and development has led to severe crises. Citing the recent tree felling for the Baripada bus stand, he stressed the need to evaluate the losses caused by deforestation and the benefits of development projects.
Vice-chancellor Chandi Charan Rath, former V-C Padmaja Mishra, eminent Gandhian and all-India vice-chairperson of Kasturba Gandhi Memorial Trust Gayatri Das participated in the event.
The three-day event, scheduled to continue till December 22, will have eight technical sessions where more than 75 researchers, environmental activists, academicians, scientists and students will present their papers.