Effective participation can be defined as attending meetings and speaking up during them, but it can also be defined by the share of women in office-bearing positions. The interface between gender, participation and community forestry has impacts on pre-existing gender relations and on relative participation by women and men in community forestry decisionmaking processes. Although both women and men in forest-dependent communities possess traditional knowledge of use of forest ecosystems, enhancing women's roles in the biodiversity conservation and the protection of forest ecosystems is crucial, including through preservation of indigenous seeds and medicinal plants (Mulyoutami etal. However, providing policy advice to promote equal participation without carefully understanding local and non-local economic, cultural and socio-political processes should be cautioned against.