To mark International Women’s Day on March 8, Landscapes News is publishing a series of stories honoring women with a laurel for their dedication to improving the landscape. In this video, Cecile Ndjebet of the African Women’s Network for Community Management of Forests (REFACOF), describes her work. She was nominated by Monika Kiczkajlo, Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (FTA) Program Manager at the Center for International Forestry Research; Barbara Vinceti, FTA, Forest Genetic Resources Scientist at Bioversity; and Marlene Elias, FTA Gender Coordinator. Check Viewpoint all week for more laurel recipients.
Cecile Ndjebet is an agronomist and social forester, and a gender specialist and women’s leadership trainer and adviser; she holds a M.Sc. degree in social forestry from Wageningen Agricultural University in The Netherlands.
With 32 years of field experience, Cecile started her professional career as a Cameroonian civil servant.
To promote women’s direct and effective participation in natural resources management in Africa, in 2009, Cecile founded REFACOF a regional network of 17 countries from West and Central Africa. Over the past six years, Cecile has been mobilizing rural women in mangrove restoration along the coastal area of Cameroon.
In 2012, Cecile was elected Climate Change Champion of the Central African Commission on Forests (COMIFAC).
At the international level, Cecile is an active member and well-known woman advocate of global women networks such as Global Gender and Climate Alliance, Gender and Water Alliance, Women’s Environment & Development Organization, Women’s Organizing for Change in Agriculture and Natural Resources management and Global Women Tenure Network.
She is a steering committee member of The Forests Dialogue, Focal Point of the Women Major Group of the U.N. Forest Forum, Woman Observer in the World Bank Forest Carbon Partnership Facility and Africa Focal Point for International Tropical Timber Organization, Civil Society Advisory Group.
Aleta Baun protects livelihoods by fighting encroachment into Timor forests
Bezaiet Dessalegn’s fuel-efficient stove-for-work program in Ethiopia protects trees
Soil scientist Leigh Winowiecki works with over 8,000 farmers to restore degraded land in Africa
Yuyun Ismawati fights mercury, pollutants in landscapes to protect livelihoods
EcoAgriculture’s Louise Buck takes collaborative landscape efforts to new heights
Landscapes activist Myriam Espinoza Torres empowers communities in Mexico
Deepali Rautela at forefront of sustainable forest certification program in India
For Maggie Muurmans, saving sea turtles starts with the community
Susie Kinyanjui leads 1.5 million charcoal seedball sowing reforestation initiative
Lucia Madrid leads integrated landscape watershed project in Mexico
Through grassroots “A Tree for Sam and Sally” Mavis Siame encourages reforestation
Renée Giovarelli puts gender equity on the map in push for land rights
Monica Mezzalama ensures safe travel for maize and wheat seed to curb pathogens
Honor your “Landscape Laurel” on International Women’s Day 2018
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