Women's Forest Congress May 2024 Update🌲

May 2024

Join the Women's Forest Congress for a Lunch and Learn panel discussion on June 25, 2024, from 1:00-2:00pm ET (12:00-1:00pm CT/11:00am-12:00pm MT/10:00am-11:00am PT), as we explore the intersection of forest conservation and technology.

Moderated by Daphne Yin, WFC Steering Committee member and Director of Impact at Conservation X Labs, the panel will bring together several experts to share their insights on career paths, best practices, opportunities, and challenges in leveraging technology for forest conservation, sustainable forest management, and restoration. You’ll hear from experts on ecosystem remote sensing, natural capital accounting, bioacoustics, forest carbon, geospatial data analysis and data management, open innovation for firetech and conservation solutions, and app development.

Don't miss this opportunity to learn from leading experts and engage in a thought-provoking discussion on the future of forest conservation and technology. Register now to join us on June 25!

What’s Happening in the WFC Community?

The Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) is hosting a Women’s Forest Congress meet-up during the 2024 SFI Annual Conference, being held June 4-7, in Atlanta. The WFC meet-up will be over breakfast on Thursday, June 6, from 8-9 am. Look for reserved tables with signs saying “Women’s Forest Congress Meet-up”, offering a great opportunity for networking! Any registered attendees are welcome to join the WFC meet-up – no separate registration is required. Click here to register for the conference or learn more.

New Course Offered on Gender Equality in Forestry-Related Sectors

Join over 500 individuals as they learn and “explore how gender equality, diversity, and inclusion drive sustainability and transformative change within forest-related sectors.” Created in partnership with the University of Padova, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Université de Moncton, and the IUFRO Task Force on Gender Equality in Forestry, this 3-week course will provide learners with an understanding of gender equality, diversity and inclusion in the forest sector and how to consider these concepts and apply them in practical ways in the workplace.

WFC Needs Your Support

Your financial support is needed and critical to continue the momentum throughout 2024. Your immediate support will ensure the continued success of the Women’s Forest Congress movement. Throughout 2023, the Women’s Forest Congress engaged and acted upon the Declaration and 10 resolutions from the October 2022 event. Specific activities included WFC strategic engagement and operations, ongoing communications and marketing, quarterly virtual gatherings, and supporting the volunteer-led Steering Committee, Advisory Council, and Working Groups, as well as the overall movement to position and learn from women as leaders in the forest community. 

If you or your organization is interested in supporting the Congress, check out our sponsorship prospectus, donate today, or reach out to us.

Fun Fact of the Month

In March, in honor of Women’s History Month, the Biden Administration released an Executive Order on “Recognizing and Honoring Women’s History”. The Order mandates a variety of actions intended to increase the recognition of women at sites of national importance across the country. Specific steps include commissioning assessments of how women are honored at existing federally managed sites and identify other sites significant to women’s history, as well as soliciting recommendations on how to improve recognition of women’s history across Federal parks, lands, and programs. While the order pays special mention to the National Park Service as “the Nation’s storyteller”, it also is inclusive of Forest service and other federally managed land and properties.

This executive order presents a unique opportunity for the federal government to better highlight and honor the role of women in shaping the forests of the nation. The 2022 inaugural Women’s Forest Congress included a session highlighting the history of women within forestry and conservation, revealing an overlooked history and emphasizing how women’s stories are often forgotten as the historical record is written. The contributions of women of color are even more neglected, and so we welcome the emphasis of an intentionally intersectional approach to telling these stories within the Executive Order. We applaud efforts to bring all women’s stories to the forefront and will stay tuned for developments and outcomes related to this Order!