India’s delta regions—such as the Sundarbans, Mahanadi, and Cauvery—are ecological hotspots and home to millions whose lives are interwoven with wetlands. While delta ecosystems face growing threats from climate change, sea-level rise, and unregulated development, women in these landscapes often serve as first responders, resource managers, and knowledge keepers. However, their roles remain systematically under-recognized in nature-based planning efforts. This chapter explores how gender-responsive Nature-Based Solutions (NbS) can become a transformative tool in building delta resilience. Drawing from cases in Odisha, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal, it highlights women-led collectives, traditional ecological wisdom, and grassroots adaptation practices in wetland governance, while unpacking structural barriers—limited land rights, policy invisibility, and financing gaps—that hinder participation. The chapter argues that mainstreaming gender into NbS is both a question of equity and ecological effectiveness and proposes a framework for gender-inclusive wetland restoration aligning with SDG 5, SDG 13, and SDG 15.

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Women and Wetlands: Gender-Responsive Nature-Based Solutions in India’s Delta Communities

  • Gunja Goyal

摘要

India’s delta regions—such as the Sundarbans, Mahanadi, and Cauvery—are ecological hotspots and home to millions whose lives are interwoven with wetlands. While delta ecosystems face growing threats from climate change, sea-level rise, and unregulated development, women in these landscapes often serve as first responders, resource managers, and knowledge keepers. However, their roles remain systematically under-recognized in nature-based planning efforts. This chapter explores how gender-responsive Nature-Based Solutions (NbS) can become a transformative tool in building delta resilience. Drawing from cases in Odisha, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal, it highlights women-led collectives, traditional ecological wisdom, and grassroots adaptation practices in wetland governance, while unpacking structural barriers—limited land rights, policy invisibility, and financing gaps—that hinder participation. The chapter argues that mainstreaming gender into NbS is both a question of equity and ecological effectiveness and proposes a framework for gender-inclusive wetland restoration aligning with SDG 5, SDG 13, and SDG 15.