Insights on the roles of women in effective and procedurally just environmental governance from coastal fisheries management in Fiji.

Abstract

Conservationists and fisheries managers have historically focused somewhat narrowly on achieving environmental goals at the expense of environmental justice. We examined the links between the two in the context of coastal fisheries management in Fiji, a nation highly dependent on marine resources and with significant external conservation investment. We focused on procedural justice, an underexamined dimension of environmental justice, which is concerned with how decisions are made and by whom. We took an intersectional approach in that we considered individuals' multiple and interacting social identities with a focus on the roles of women. We examined the barriers to and benefits of women's and men's participation in fisheries management. We surveyed 655 key informants in 146 villages and conducted talanoa sessions (a Fijian research method) and 54 semistructured interviews in 4 of those villages. Women's participation was associated with numerous ecological and social benefits and an increase in support for fisheries management, yet their participation was very low. Women were more knowledgeable than men about the ocean, there was broad support for women's participation, and women's participation was critical for maintaining their access to fishing areas. However, restrictive gender norms and roles often limited women to token participation or no participation. This was especially true for young women and women who married into the village. Local women and men identified pathways to increasing women's participation, including the important role men can play in supporting women's voices. More generally, our results highlight the interconnection between achieving conservation and environmental goals and improving procedural environmental justice.