Enabling Women as Key Actors in Nature-based Solutions

This working paper, produced by the World Resources Institute's Gender Equity Practice and commissioned by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, examines the role of rural women in Nature-based Solutions (NbS). It identifies a gap in existing NbS literature, which typically prioritizes biophysical and technical aspects or treats households as uniform units, ignoring gender dynamics. The paper analyzes four NbS approaches—natural climate solutions (NCS), forest landscape restoration (FLR), ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA), and payments for ecosystem services (PES)—and uses three deep dives into PES projects to identify barriers and enablers for women's participation. The goal is to provide recommendations to donors, practitioners, and policymakers to enhance rural women's agency in NbS for sustainable agroecosystems.

• Existing literature on Nature-based Solutions (NbS) often neglects the gender dimension, focusing instead on technical and biophysical elements or treating households as single units without considering internal gender dynamics. However, the success of these solutions depends on the inclusion of women as critical stakeholders.
• The research analyzes four specific NbS approaches—natural climate solutions (NCS), forest landscape restoration (FLR), ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA), and payments for ecosystem services (PES)—and utilizes three case studies of PES projects to determine the factors that either hinder or facilitate the participation and benefit of rural women.

APA

World Resources Institute (n.d.). Enabling Women as Key Actors in Nature-based Solutions. https://www.wri.org/research/enabling-women-key-actors-nature-based-solutions

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Enabling Women as Key Actors in Nature-based Solutions. n.d. https://www.wri.org/research/enabling-women-key-actors-nature-based-solutions.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Enabling Women as Key Actors in Nature-based Solutions |url=https://www.wri.org/research/enabling-women-key-actors-nature-based-solutions |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitutendenabling, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Enabling Women as Key Actors in Nature-based Solutions}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, url = {https://www.wri.org/research/enabling-women-key-actors-nature-based-solutions}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }