Women Shaping the Future of Monteverde in Bolivia

Monteverde Life Plan

The Monteverde Indigenous Territory (TCO Monteverde) spans over one million hectares and is home to Chiquitano and Monkoxi indigenous communities. Governed by three regional indigenous organizations, the territory faces fragmented leadership and political tensions. Women’s organisations, such as OMIP-SJ, OMIOCHC, and OMIML, have been advocating for years to be included in the decision making processes. The five-year Life Plan, a guide for Monteverde’s development in land use, economic resilience and climate adaptation, creates an opportunity for inclusion in decision-making.

Women’s perspectives are crucial for inclusivity and effectiveness of the Life Plan in TCO Monteverde, but territorial governments have resisted the involvement of women’s organisations. IBIF (Instituto Boliviano de Investigación Forestal), the local Tropenbos International network member, started a process to navigate existing power structures and create entry points for women’s participation. Due to the challenges and tensions around this topic, this asked for conflict-sensitive approaches and a good understanding on how to navigate the current power dynamics.

Overcoming institutional resistance

The challenges became even more clear after statements by the local governments that they would not acknowledge the inclusion of the women’s organisations in the Life Plan process. Meetings were organised to discuss the possible inclusion of women in the process, but the territorial government pulled out its support. They created excuses to avoid including women’s groups, showing the fear for changing the existing power dynamics.

IBIF decided to take up the role of mediator and proposed a direct meeting between the women’s organizations and the territorial governments. In this meeting, IBIF clarified its goal: not imposing changes, but supporting a process where women would be recognised in the territorial governance. With this approach, IBIF managed to shift the conversations and get the different actors back together. By carefully engaging with the different actors, IBIF created opportunities to again start conversations on women’s inclusion.

Women claim their space in the Life Plan

The breakthrough came when, following IBIF’s mediation, the territorial government formally agreed to recognize the women’s organizations and invited them to participate in the Life Plan process. At the strategic workshop that followed, 200 participants from across Monteverde came together. Women that participated in this meeting could make sure that the women’s perspectives would be shared in the group.

While some territorial leaders continued to resist change, the presence of women in the discussions marked a turning point for women’s inclusion. The rising tensions were mitigated by the involvement of IBIF. The territorial leaders recognised the presence of the women’s organisations and even asked for them to share some words. Now, women will have a seat at the table, providing them with the ability to shape decisions.

Challenges, lessons, and future directions

The process revealed challenges to include women’s voices in the development of the Life Plans. The fear for changes in existing power structures created rising tensions between territorial governments and the women’s organisations. Only through IBIF’s conflict sensitive approaches it became possible to bring them all back to the table and discuss openly the objectives and challenges in this process. By addressing concerns from both sides and emphasizing the opportunities for collaboration, IBIF helped transform the process from one of exclusion to meaningful participation.
Rather than imposing change, IBIF used the opportunities within the Life Plan process to bring the stakeholders together. This approach was based on strengthening the position of the women’s organisations to take these challenges on themselves, instead of making them dependent on outside support.

Future efforts should continue strengthening women’s inclusion and leadership within these institutional mechanisms, and ensuring that women’s perspectives will be taken into account in the development of the Life Plans. By fostering inclusive governance with a conflict-sensitive approach, Tropenbos International and IBIF are navigating existing power dynamics to support a more resilient and equitable future for Monteverde.