Women, Forests and COP30: RADD's Forest Immersion in CameroonCEFR B2
24 Nov 2025
Adapted from Laura, Global Voices • CC BY 3.0
Photo by Joseph Siewe, Unsplash
The 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) met in Belém, Brazil, from November 10 to 21, 2025. At the same time, Cameroon’s Network of Sustainable Development Actors (RADD) organized a forest immersion on November 17, 2025, to connect women with forest knowledge and the global climate discussions taking place at COP30.
RADD traces its origins to the Kids For Forest project launched by Greenpeace International in the Congo Basin in 2009; young participants later formed RADD to promote sustainable, equitable and inclusive management of natural resources, especially forests. The organization explained that women were chosen because of their close relationship with land and forest resources. It also warned that modern pressures—extractive industries, agro-industries, mining, dams and other large projects—have weakened local ties to forests, which play key roles in food, health and climate regulation.
The program combined two preparatory panels (on a world without forests and water, and on gender and climate finance), an evening in the forest, an exhibition of native agroecological seeds and handicrafts, a hike, a virtual meeting with the COP30 team in Belém, tree planting at Sanaga Beach, a documentary screening and meetings with local forest representatives. RADD said the training strengthened women’s understanding of adaptation and mitigation and argued that women affected by climate change can propose relevant solutions for COP30.
More than six categories of participants were selected, including women near agro-industries, women who guard community seed banks, processors of agricultural and non-timber forest products, urban women seeking reconnection, indigenous forest guardians and youth forest representatives. RADD plans a multilevel follow-up to strengthen the forest representatives who participated at the COP30 hub, provide them with resources, include forest seeds in its seed system development program, and urge Cameroonian decision-makers to listen to women and recognise them as leading actors in national climate plans.
Difficult words
- immersion — a deep, direct experience inside a place or environment
- sustainable — able to continue without harming environment or people
- equitable — fair and just distribution of benefits and responsibilities
- adaptation — changes to reduce harm from environmental change
- mitigation — actions to reduce the severity of climate change
- extractive — related to taking natural resources out of land
- agro-industry — large-scale industrial farming and food processing businessagro-industries
- seed bank — a stored collection of seeds for planting and conservationcommunity seed banks
- guardian — a person who protects or looks after somethingguardians
- recognise — to officially accept or pay attention to someone
Tip: hover, focus or tap highlighted words in the article to see quick definitions while you read or listen.
Discussion questions
- How might connecting local women to global climate talks like COP30 change national climate planning?
- What challenges do modern projects (mining, dams, agro-industries) create for local relationships with forests?
- Which activities from the programme (for example seed exhibitions or tree planting) do you think most help communities adapt to climate change, and why?
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