Solution: Al Hima System a mean of Women Empowerment

Presented by Jamal Hamzeh

Outline Who is SPNL? Al Hima Approach Why Al Hima Approach? Partnership with the UN Women Fund for Gender Equality;

How & Why? Al Hima System: A Mean of Women Empowerment What Makes This Solution Different? Sustainability & Equity in Sharing the Benefits Relevance to South-South Countries What Did We Do to Optimize on SSC? What Can we do More? Role of International Actors

SPNL• The Society for The Protection of Nature (SPNL) is one of the

oldest environmental NGOs in Lebanon

• It was established in 1983 and licensed by the government in 1986

• The national partner for BirdLife International working on “IBAs of Lebanon”

• Lead NGO on the Revival of the Hima “الحمى ” approach

• SPNL aims at protecting nature, birds and biodiversity in Lebanon and to promote sustainable use of natural resources with people through reviving the Hima concept

Al Hima Approach

• Hima means a protected area in Arabic• It is a community based approach used for the conservation of sites,

species, habitats, and people in order to achieve the sustainable use of natural resources.

• It originated more than 1,500 years ago in the Arabian Peninsula.

• It was initiated before Islam, when tribes conserved certain areas for a period of time allowing them to regenerate in order to retain their livelihood in harsh environment.

• Islam added to the Hima practice values, such as equity & benefit to poor.

Al Hima Approach

• SPNL is reviving the Hima approach in collaboration with municipalities in order to promote the conservation of IBAs/KBAs, conserve the sustainable use of natural resources, and empower local communities.

Why Al Hima Approach?

• Women were responsible for Hima management since more than 1000 years

- Water use - Medicinal & edible plantscollection- Controlled grazing- Taking care of livestock- Wood collection for household fire & cooking- Agriculture & farming

Partnership with the UN Women Fund for Gender

Equality; How & Why?• How? After the alert from BirdLife International about the call of the UN Women Fund for Gender Equality. SPNL applied to the call for proposals through the Fund grant making cycle of 2011-2012, and was selected given the novelty of the project.

• Why?Through its work in promoting community management of Important Bird Areas, SPNL has realized the diminished role of women in decision making within the Hima sites. So, we applied in order to highlight the direct relation between women & natural resources and to embody well designed approaches to support women’s access to resources and assuming their own accountability for the management of those resources. Thus, empowering them politically & economically .

Al Hima System AMean of Women Empowerment

• Programme Country: Lebanon• Grant Amount: US $280,000 • Thematic Area: Political/Social & Economic Empowerment• Duration: 3 years (2013-2015)• 5 involved sites: Aanjar, Kfar Zabad, el-Fekha, Qoleileh, &

Al Mansouri• Main Aim: To enhance the livelihood of rural women through the revival of the Hima approach in the IBAs of Lebanon.

Al Hima System: A Mean of Women Empowerment

- Supporting women in raising their voices and being part of the management of the different Hima sites.

- supporting women self-dependence and sense of ownership for those natural resources.

- Improving their well-being (better access to food, medicinal plants, wood, clean water,...).

- Reducing poverty levels and improving women livelihood through creating new income generating activities for them within the Hima sites

Political/Social Empowerment

Economic Empowerment

What Makes This Solution Different?

• The Programme came to build on the global adoption of the Hima concept by more than 2,000 people representing different countries all over the world, through the submitted Motion at the IUCN 2012 Congress held in Jeju, Korea.

• The reappearance of Globally Threatened Species within 3 of the sites (Syrian Serin Bird, Common Otter & sea turtles), and the use of sustainable practices such as sustainable fishing, farming, hunting, and grazing with a basic influential role for women in spreading awareness and advocating conservation.

• Leading on the revival of sustainable cultural practices by women for optimizing on local resources & improved livelihoods, such as grazing, water canal systems, collection of medicinal & edible plants, weaving handmade carpets from natural wool & natural dye, needlework, & mouneh processing.

• More than 300 women with proactive role in natural resources sustainable use.

• Sensitizing more than 85 women on their rights and CEDAW & for the strengthened leadership decision making, and group work skills.

• More than 50 women and 35 decision makers with positive perception on the key role that women play in natural resources management.

• A first time initiation of an environmental committee in Hima Aanjar with the majority of women

members presented with leadershippositions.

• Creating income for women especially through identifying new income generating activities within the sites, providing trainings on the needed skills for these activities, procurement of the needed equipment, developing ecotourism &marketing plans to institutionalize planning and provide business opportunities, & organizing festivals.

• Participatory approach: action plan for Hima management

Sustainability &Equity in Sharing the Benefits

• Bottom up approach where nothing is imposed on people to abide with. Underprivileged groups including women are empowered to participate in the vision and management of their natural resources.

• Even after the end of any project, SPNL keeps on monitoring and following up on the different sites.

• Making partnerships with local organizations in every site.

• Contacting several municipal members and focal points from different religious affiliations and social groups in every site.

• Economic empowerment is done on group basis and not individual basis, whereby the establishment of cooperatives for rural women ensures the equity in sharing benefits and profits.

Relevance for South-South Countries

• Lebanon & the WANA Region countries share the same challenges & problems:

- Development - Modernization Modification of natural - Harsh political situation resources - Urban sprawl

- Centralized management Wildlife species extinction of natural resources Habitat destruction Tragedy of the common

- Women’s Lack of access - Growing fundamentalism to natural resources & lack - loss of rights of involvement in managing - Deterioration in their those resources livelihood, health, & income earning capacities

• Further, the WANA region countries being located surrounding the Mediterranean Basin indicates the presence of similar weather, climate, threats, practices, and way of living.

Relevance for South-South Countries

What Did We Do to optimize on SSC?

• The Establishment of the Hima Fund in Qatar, under the patronage of her Royal Highness Sheikha Jawaher, which highlights the value of Hima revival in the WANA region and supports its projects.

• A study on the site support group (SSG) in the West- Asian region has been done.

• Regional meetings on the revival of the Hima approach between BirdLifepartners in the West Asian andGulf region have been done.

• In Jordan, the IUCN ROWA in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and the Arab Women Organization, has revived the Hima approach for grazing management in four Jordanian villages managed by the Bedouin community.

• In Syria, SPNL organized trainings on the Hima Approach for some of the municipal members and local people, which led to the declaration of Hima Akroum, with the approval of the Ministry of Agriculture.

• In Iraq a Hima was established recently for the conservation of the Mosbatianian Marshlands and the support of local communities.

What Can We Do More?

• Specific expertise in the assessment of the site ecological importance, to know whether it is an IBA/KBA/KPA/Ramsar/conserved site in order to go further and know if the site can be declared as a Hima site.

• Institutional setups such as developing site support groups (SSG), environmental committees, cooperatives, etc…

• Participatory skills and approaches used in strategic planning and management of the sites, such as group work, focus groups, stakeholder identification and analysis, SWOT analysis, rich pictures, problem tree/analysis, objectives analysis, matrix analysis, development of local action plans, etc…

What Can We Do More?

Role of International Actors

• Adopting the Hima concept in their strategies

• Funding the solution to be adopted in other countries

• Supporting in expertise, knowledge, and success stories exchange

Thank you