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5
the previous year, when she appointed a cabinet where eight of the eighteen ministers were women. This became known as ‘The Women’s Government’. Since then,
all Norwegian cabinets have had at least 40% women.
‘The Earth Summit’—United Nations Conference on Environment and
Development—was held in 1992 in Rio de Janeiro and came in the wake of the
Brundtland Commission report. The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
was signed at the Earth Summit (United Nations 1992a). Norway was among the
countries that played a central role in the negotiations for the CBD, and has since
been active in its follow-up. The CBD emphasizes the importance of women taking
part at all levels of decision-making in sustainable use and preservation of biodiversity. The Earth Summit also adopted an action plan for sustainable development, known as Agenda 21, which calls for ‘Global Action for Women Towards
Sustainable and Equitable Development’ (United Nations 1992b).
Each year, the United Nations Development Programme publishes a ranking
of countries according to the Human Development Index. Norway has always
taken up one of the highest positions on this ranking. Gender equality is one of the
indicators used, and in this respect, Norway also ranks high, not least due to the
relatively high percentage of women in parliament (41% in 2017–2021).
Furthermore, Norwegian policy and legislation make it reasonable to expect a
high degree of gender equality. A basic principle is that all public councils, boards
and committees shall have at least 40% representation of each gender. This gender
balance is required by the Gender Equality Act and the Local Government Act.
During the history of Norwegian aid to developing countries, gender equality
has been seen as an important concern. There has been a belief in Norway, based
on the country’s own achievements in gender equality, could assist countries in the
South to improve in a similar way.
In 2004, the Kenyan biology professor and environmental activist Wangari
Maathai (1940–2011) received the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo. One of the key elements of Maathai’s work in rural villages in Africa was an emphasis on people
shaping their own sustainable development in which women are included as active
participants. The Norwegian Nobel Committee awards the Peace Prize, and many
Norwegians were proud of its support of sustainable development based on gender
equality in Africa.
With such emphasis in Norway on sustainable development as well as on gender, and even on the combination, one would have reason to assume that there is a
high degree of gender equality in environmental governance in Norway. After the
farm visit described above, we began looking into this.
In our study of local participation in establishing two protected areas, it became
apparent that the absence of women among the local participants was one of the
most interesting findings. Of 48 representatives in the eight reference groups we
studied, only three were women (Svarstad et al. 2006). Thus, we started to wonder
whether our experience that day on the farm was perhaps not a coincidence. At
least there was a clear pattern of domination by men in the reference groups of the
two protected areas we had studied.
When we searched for relevant research knowledge about gender and power in
conservation in Norway, we found that such research had scarcely been conducted.
5.1 · Expectations of Gender Equality in Local Conservation…
5
the previous year, when she appointed a cabinet where eight of the eighteen ministers were women. This became known as ‘The Women’s Government’. Since then,
all Norwegian cabinets have had at least 40% women.
‘The Earth Summit’—United Nations Conference on Environment and
Development—was held in 1992 in Rio de Janeiro and came in the wake of the
Brundtland Commission report. The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
was signed at the Earth Summit (United Nations 1992a). Norway was among the
countries that played a central role in the negotiations for the CBD, and has since
been active in its follow-up. The CBD emphasizes the importance of women taking
part at all levels of decision-making in sustainable use and preservation of biodiversity. The Earth Summit also adopted an action plan for sustainable development, known as Agenda 21, which calls for ‘Global Action for Women Towards
Sustainable and Equitable Development’ (United Nations 1992b).
Each year, the United Nations Development Programme publishes a ranking
of countries according to the Human Development Index. Norway has always
taken up one of the highest positions on this ranking. Gender equality is one of the
indicators used, and in this respect, Norway also ranks high, not least due to the
relatively high percentage of women in parliament (41% in 2017–2021).
Furthermore, Norwegian policy and legislation make it reasonable to expect a
high degree of gender equality. A basic principle is that all public councils, boards
and committees shall have at least 40% representation of each gender. This gender
balance is required by the Gender Equality Act and the Local Government Act.
During the history of Norwegian aid to developing countries, gender equality
has been seen as an important concern. There has been a belief in Norway, based
on the country’s own achievements in gender equality, could assist countries in the
South to improve in a similar way.
In 2004, the Kenyan biology professor and environmental activist Wangari
Maathai (1940–2011) received the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo. One of the key elements of Maathai’s work in rural villages in Africa was an emphasis on people
shaping their own sustainable development in which women are included as active
participants. The Norwegian Nobel Committee awards the Peace Prize, and many
Norwegians were proud of its support of sustainable development based on gender
equality in Africa.
With such emphasis in Norway on sustainable development as well as on gender, and even on the combination, one would have reason to assume that there is a
high degree of gender equality in environmental governance in Norway. After the
farm visit described above, we began looking into this.
In our study of local participation in establishing two protected areas, it became
apparent that the absence of women among the local participants was one of the
most interesting findings. Of 48 representatives in the eight reference groups we
studied, only three were women (Svarstad et al. 2006). Thus, we started to wonder
whether our experience that day on the farm was perhaps not a coincidence. At
least there was a clear pattern of domination by men in the reference groups of the
two protected areas we had studied.
When we searched for relevant research knowledge about gender and power in
conservation in Norway, we found that such research had scarcely been conducted.
5.1 · Expectations of Gender Equality in Local Conservation…