On July 8th, Forest Engineer Carmen Monges, master’s student in Governance at Heidelberg University, delivered her talk "Gender-Sensitive Conservation in the Atlantic Forest" at Freie Universität Berlin.

In her presentation, Monges highlighted the critical state of the Atlantic Forest, one of the world’s most important and threatened ecosystems, over 80% of which has been destroyed. She shared her professional experience in Paraguay working with WWF and on REDD projects, emphasizing how gender-sensitive conservation can empower women-led local communities and improve socio-environmental outcomes.

She also underscored the role of the Atlantic Forest Trinational Restoration Network, a collaboration between Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay involving more than 360 institutions that integrate science and traditional knowledge to restore millions of hectares of forest.

Following her presentation, Monges shared a discussion with members of the Modelling Human-Environmental Interactions research group on inclusive strategies for restoration and environmental governance. She closed by reminding the audience: “We need to listen to women’s voices and support their work - because without women’s voices and leadership, there is no true conservation.”