Exchange for women park rangers of Costa Rica: a space of empowerment in biodiversity and climate action

Costa Rica’s biodiversity is one of its main attributes, which you may have heard of, or better yet, experienced yourself. The beautiful landscapes and perfect harmony between flora and fauna are sheltered in the country’s protected areas, where women have an important impact due to their committed and outstanding work. Given the importance of promoting a gender transformative approach in biodiversity conservation and management, the first exchange meeting of women park rangers was held on the International Day for Biological Diversity 2023.

Under the motto "From agreement to action, rebuilding biodiversity from the perspective of women and girls", the event was led by the Costa Rican Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAE) with support of the German Development Cooperation GIZ.

The objective of this meeting was to offer female park rangers tools that allow them to influence policies and actions of biodiversity management that guarantee their open and transparent participation, and thus empower their role in relation to biodiversity and interaction with communities.  

"Today, I represent, with great pride, all my fellow park rangers who fight every day for our beloved protected areas. I pay tribute to all those pioneers who paved the way for us," said Reina Sánchez, park ranger of the Irazú and Turrialba volcanoes.