Devi presented on the HWC

"As a woman forester, I’ve encountered many challenges and often wonder if I have the mark of a leader. I’m frequently judged by my appearance and struggle to persuade others during community awareness programs, meetings, or patrols."

Devi was among 26 women from DoFPS, WWF-Bhutan, and the Tarayana Foundation attending a training on “Women’s leadership and empowerment in conservation and sustainable nature-based enterprise development”, which concluded last 12 December. 

Organized by WWF-Bhutan, the five-day training was part of the IKI Living Landscape's capacity-building programme to strengthen women’s leadership and empowerment. The training was conducted in collaboration with Innovate Bhutan: YDF Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Punakha. 

The participants, whose contributions often remain invisible, hidden in forests, villages or behind the desks, were invited not only to learn but to reflect on their roles and leadership. The training’s goal was to shift this story. As the trainer spoke about self-awareness, the conference hall was filled with positivity and possibilities.

The training aimed to strengthen leadership confidence, gender awareness, communication skills, and innovation capacity of women professionals working in conservation, climate resilience, and community development. This is why the training was designed using an integrated approach, linking self-awareness, gender understanding, communication, innovation, and gender-responsive conservation planning.

15 participants from DoFPS, four from Tarayana Foundation and seven from WWF-Bhutan attended the training

Throughout the training, the participants were given reflection exercises, group discussions, role plays and negotiation simulations and explored gender tools on inclusive leadership in conservation and peer learning. Participants also shared real field experiences and scenarios - for instance, being overlooked in meetings and while handling wildlife cases. As they explored gender norms, all of them agreed that these were realities they had lived. 

Over the five days, as the training unfolded on gender, innovation, communications, and leadership, Devi slowly began to shift her confidence. The voice, initially softer on the first day, became more confident as participants practiced effective communication, influence, and framing messages for community meetings. By day three, Devi proudly represented her team to share communication skills in sharing an action plan for human-wildlife conflict.

By the end of the training, participants gained gender-responsive planning skills, improved communication and influence abilities, developed practical ideas for community and conservation work, and drafted gender-inclusive conservation action plans. The action plans were not perfect, but that was not the point. The point was that they showcased their intent and a step toward leadership. 

“I’m new to the job, and I used to think that being a woman was a barrier. This training changed that. Listening to senior women leaders in the room share their challenges and how they navigated them taught me so much and gave me confidence,” Devi smiled.