When Women Thrive, Our Planet Thrives | International Women's Day

We've been planting and protecting forests for about 15 years now here at Ecosia. And one thing stands out in every single project. When women are empowered to lead, projects move faster and work better overall. This is not an original observation. Studies have backed this up for decades. Research from the World Bank, for example, shows that when women control household income generated through these types of projects, they reinvest up to 90% of it into their families, And that reinvestment changes everything. Better education, healthcare, better cooking stoves means that families can build sustainable livelihoods and reduce their reliance on forests for essentials like charcoal, for example. Another study in Nepal and India shows that forests managed by groups with a higher proportion of women have better conservation outcomes overall. So less trees are cut down and biodiversity comes back faster. Anecdotally, in the decade that I've been working in conservation with Ecosia, I've seen that some of the best organized tree nurseries and community planting groups were run by women. You can meet some of them on our YouTube channel, like Malati, Marcella, or Nima to mention just a few. Part of the reason is that in rural areas, where most of our projects are, men are expected to go work in neighboring cities for a good portion of the day, whereas women are expected to take care of the household. As a result, women have deeper ties with their communities, they build stronger social networks, and they think more collectively, which is crucial when you're trying to restore public spaces. And look, I've met amazing men in these projects too. Mr. Sick, Sangare, Steven Martin, Pete, and so many more. It's not that they're not important, they are. Just as much. It's just that men are not often overlooked in these projects. And women are. Which is not just unfair, but it also slows us down. As we've seen, when women are included, not just on the sidelines, but in decision-making and resource management, regeneration projects thrive. One of those women is Oumou. We met her in Bacal, in Senegal, where our tree planting partners, Ometer, are restoring one of the driest soils I've ever seen in my life. We did a whole vlog about it, you can watch it here. Now in that video, I promised you that I'd show you our full conversation with Oumou, which was too long to include there, and where she goes into how her community deals with Oumou plays a key role in bringing people together. Her community was one of the first ones to work with Ometer, which, if you watch our vlog, you'll see is not a given. Many communities are understandably skeptical of outside organizations. But I don't want to give it all away. What follows is our full conversation with Oumou. This is going to be a slower video than our usual style, but we wanted to let her speak. So without further ado, Oumou. My name is Oumou Ba. I was born in Arihara, in my village, behind Kidra, 12 kilometers from Kidra, near Naye. This is my father, Ousmane. He knows me. I got married in Djekula. I went to primary school in Arihara. I went to secondary school in Kidra. I did my computer education in Bacal. After that, I worked with ISAID in Yadiende. I came back to do gardening and soap manufacturing with the women of the village. In those years, I worked with Ometer, the secretary of the village of Djekula. My life here in the village is a bit difficult, but it's also a bit easy. To live in this environment, it's not easy to live. During the rainy season, there are no problems. And during the dry season, it's very difficult to be here. I work as a housewife, with my husband. It's not easy to work, but we manage it, as usual. Today, I have a lot of work to do. I have a lot of work to do. Today, I have a lot of work to do. I have to buy food for the children. I have to go to the market to buy food. I'm not going to let that happen. I'm going to stay in my hometown, Joftar. I'm going to stay in my hometown.