Community outreach and dialogue are helping address gender-based barriers in community forests and community protected areas in Cambodia.

Gender-based violence and restrictive social norms often limit women’s roles in forest governance. In Cambodia, these barriers have historically prevented women from taking part in decision making and holding leadership positions in community forests and community protected areas.

From early 2023 through 2024, RECOFTC worked with Gender and Development for Cambodia to implement the Rise Up! project. Our efforts aimed to reduce gender-based violence and create safer, more inclusive spaces for women in eight community forests and community protected areas across Pursat and Kampong Chhnang provinces.

Through dialogue sessions, outreach campaigns and gender equality training, we engaged 40 community members in conversations on gender roles, shared responsibility and conflict resolution.  

Men’s dialogues encouraged participants to reflect on traditional expectations and the value of supporting women’s involvement in the management of the community’s natural resources. “In my first training, I had to update my husband of my every move,” says Bopha (name changed), a community member from Koh Tonlea Kras. “His mindset gradually changed. Now we’re both involved.”

By 2024, nearly 97 per cent of women participants reported feeling safer taking part in forest activities. In some communities, the changes sparked deeper conversations about gender quotas and leadership reform.

While structural challenges persist, communities are beginning to shift social norms, laying the groundwork for more equitable, inclusive and effective forest governance.