Hailing from the beautiful landscapes of Amboseli, Kenya, my passion lies in ensuring that everyone, from men, women and youth to indigenous communities, has a seat at the table when it comes to conserving our precious natural resources. 🙌. II can't wait to share experiences, learn from all of you, and be a part of this vibrant community that shares my deep love for nature and conservation. Let's connect and make a positive impact together! 💪🌏🌳
Introduction
Hello, WildHub community!
My name is Ruth, from Kenya, and I am thrilled to join this amazing group of conservation enthusiasts. 🌍🌿
Biodiversity conservationist , Kang4Nature
I am an environmentalist with five years of experience in biodiversity conservation and wildlife management. The pursuit of a bachelor’s degree in environmental science from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology marked a monumental step in shaping my professional journey in conservation. In 2019, I co-founded Kang4Nature, a volunteer youth group dedicated to executing environmental restoration projects in Nairobi, Kenya. This initiative showcased my leadership potential and eventually led me to assume the role of Programs Manager at CHD Conservation Kenya a grassroots organization committed to fostering public engagement in conservation through education and awareness programs, citizen research, and sustainable enterprise development. In this capacity, I have refined my skills in various areas, including curriculum development for youth engagement in conservation, promoting diversity and inclusion of indigenous women and girls in rangelands, stakeholder engagement, partnership cultivation, and fundraising. My commitment to leadership growth led me to participate in the Women in Conservation Leadership fellowship offered by the Centre for Protected Area Management at Colorado State University and the Project Management in Global Health program offered by the University of Washington. These experiences, along with my recent accomplishment of attaining a Master of Philosophy in Conservation Leadership from the University of Cambridge, have contributed significantly to my skill set. While studying at the University of Cambridge, I collaborated with Fauna & Flora, an international conservation organization. My role involved developing guiding recommendations to promote gender-transformative approaches within the conservation sector. Additionally, I provided consulting services to UNEP-WCMC, where I focused on devising innovative strategies to turning complex National Ecosystem Assessment (NEA) reports into impactful Summary for Policy Markers (SPMs). My journey reflects a blend of academic rigor, hands-on experience, and a profound commitment to driving positive change in conservation.
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A warm welcome to WildHub Ruth! Wonderful to have you join us! What was the key recommendation from your work around promoting gender-transformative approaches in conservation?
Thank you, Thirza for the warm welcome. To give an overview, below are the approaches that can help promote gender transformative approaches on a project level.
1. Conducting thorough gender analysis in various settings to understand gender expectations, limitations, and possibilities.
2. Critical Reflection Spaces
3. Accountability Mechanisms
4. Using Participatory Approaches
The examples of how to implement these approaches are context-specific as gender is a social construct that is defined by social norms and intersects with other diverse factors, including class, ethnicity, social status, race, wealth and sexual orientation.
Happy to expound more!
Hi Ruth, thanks so much for sharing these approaches! It would be great, if your time allows, to share a case study on how some of these approaches have been implemented. Feel free to write a brief 500-1000 lessons learned post (see also our Contributor guidelines) or, alternatively/additinoally, one of our Conservation Catalysts @Muthoni Njuguna , @Temitope Rebecca Adelola , @Fai Collins Ndi ) could get in touch with you for a recorded interview :) Thanks!
Hello @Ruth Jepkemoi and welcome to WildHub! It's lovely reading about your work promoting environmental stewardship through gender transformative approaches. It would be great to share more of your lessons learnt to the wider WildHub community. I'd be happy to have a sit-down with you if you're up for it. Let me know what you think. You can message me here on WildHub or on my email: emuthoni.en@gmail.com. Looking forward to hearing from you.
Welcome Ruth, good to have you join us. It would be great to share your knowledge with the WildHub community as well as engage in our WildHub socials and WildTeam courses.