Abstract: Environmental degradation in many areas has resulted in natural disasters which have
serious impact on human life. The disasters are caused by human activities which are not
environmentally friendly. Therefore, active participation of all people, both men and women, is badly
needed. The importance of women participation in land rehabilitation has been regulated in some
regulations, both in national and international level. This article discusses how to increase women
participation in land rehabilitation through gender integration in local governance and the actual
challenges to integrate gender dimension.
The idea to integrate gender dimension in local governance as an effort to improve women
participation in land rehabilitation is based on research results in the scheme of Postgraduate Grant
from the Directorate of Higher Education which has been undertaken by the author and her team for
a year in the slope of Mount Lawu, particularly in the Karanganyar Regency. Data were collected
using several methods including site observation, interview, focus group discussion and document
study by involving key informants who were purposively selected. Analysis method employed in the
research was Harvard model of gender analysis.
Results indicate that women participation in land rehabilitation is limited because of the
domestication of women in land rehabilitation, stereotype of physical barrier for women in land
rehabilitation, as well as the public policy on land management which is not yet gender responsive.
Because of this women do not have bargaining power in land management. Therefore, it is significant
to strengthen women participation in land management through gender integration in local
governance, either through gender mainstreaming or affirmative action. Gender mainstreaming in
land management is done by integrating gender equity in planning, operating, monitoring, and
evaluating rehabilitation programs and activities in the local context; while affirmative action is done
by constructing regulation and credible commitment which determines the minimal standard of
women representation as the board of Lembaga Masyarakat Desa Hutan (LMDH) (the association of
people living in the surrounding area of the forest). Women representation in organization is essential
because LMDH is local organization which has strategic role in land management, both economically
and ecologically.
Besides strengthening women participation through gender mainstreaming and affirmative
action, there is a need to improve women capacity, both individually and collectively. Individual
capacity improvement consists of several aspects including material aspect, human resources, social
and political aspects. Collective capacity improvement is done by developing voice mechanism,
structuring the organization and representation. The challenges to strengthen women participation in
land rehabilitation include strengthening the capacity of local governance in order to be gender
responsive; improving women capacity through competence development in land management, and
opening mechanism for the members of local organization to put forward their aspiration through voices mechanism.