Ecofem Tales

  The Ecofem Tales Environmental Foundation 2025 Impact Report captures a year defined by growth, learning, and deepening environmental engagement. Throughout the year, the organisation strengthened its digital presence, connected with women in rural riverine communities, and took significant steps toward becoming a formally registered NGO in Nigeria. Strengthening Community and Digital Engagement In 2025, Ecofem Tales expanded its reach through intentional digital storytelling and advocacy. Social media platforms became a vibrant space for sharing women-centred environmental content , reaching thousands of people and sparking meaningful conversations around sustainability, climate action, and women’s leadership. Beyond the digital space, Ecofem Tales remained committed to grassroots engagement. The Ecofem Tales Summit in Gbaraun , a riverine community in Bayelsa State, brought together women to share environmental knowledge, celebrate cultural traditions, and reflect on the en...

  In 2025, Ecofem Tales Environmental Foundation deepened its commitment to environmental justice and gender-inclusive advocacy through the Ecofem Tales Summit for Riverine Women , an engagement that brought the lived experiences of Niger Delta women into focus. Now documented in the Foundation’s 2025 Impact Report , the initiative highlights a powerful interview-based environmental engagement conducted in Gbaraun , a riverine community in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State , located in Nigeria’s Niger Delta region . Centering the Voices of Riverine Women At the heart of the engagement was a qualitative focus group discussion designed to amplify the environmental realities faced by women whose livelihoods are directly connected to land and water. Twenty women from the community participated in the session, representing a cross-section of local life and leadership. Participants included: Traders Women farmers Fisherwomen Women chiefs The discus...

  On this International Women’s Day, we celebrate the tireless efforts of ecofeminists and women working in environmental conservation across the world. These women continue to lead important conversations and actions that protect our ecosystems, preserve biodiversity, and promote sustainable living. From grassroots activists and community leaders to scientists, educators, and advocates, women play a critical role in safeguarding the environment. Their dedication, resilience, and passion help ensure that nature is preserved and that future generations inherit a thriving and sustainable planet. At Ecofem Tales Environmental Foundation, we recognise and applaud the countless women whose work often goes unseen but whose impact is deeply felt in communities and ecosystems alike. On this occasion, we also encourage women, young and old, who feel a calling toward nature and conservation to embrace it. Every effort matters. Whether it is planting a tree, educating others, reducing w...

  There are people whose names seem destined for their life’s work and Voahary Rakotovelomanantsoa is one of them. In Malagasy, “Voahary” means nature a fitting name for a woman whose career has been devoted to protecting the environment and uplifting her community. Voahary is a Malagasy environmental leader and politician known for linking environmental conservation with community and women’s empowerment. She is the former Governor of the Anôsy region in southern Madagascar and has also served as Minister of Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene. Her environmental work focuses on forest conservation, sustainable water management, alternative energy use, and climate resilience, especially at the community level. She strongly advocates for women’s leadership in environmental decision-making, reflecting key ecofeminist principles. Voahary’s story began not in government or academia, but in the everyday reality of Malagasy life. She built her first business while still a student a water...

Wangari Maathai's book "Unbowed" unveils her resolve and resilence towards environmental care and conservation. In a review of this book, we have been able to draw seven important lessons anyone interested in environmental advocacy can draw from. 1. Environmental Care Is Inseparable from Social Justice Environmental degradation is closely linked to poverty, inequality, and political oppression. Sustainable environments require just social systems. Maathai shows that deforestation worsened hunger, water scarcity, and women’s burdens. In an excerpt from her book, this statement strikes a chord: “The environment and human rights are closely linked.” Thus, environmental care is a part of the human rights struggle and should be treated as one and the same. Environmental rights are human rights. 2. Small, Local Actions Can Create Large-Scale Change Maathai shows that sustainability does not begin with governments alone; it starts with communities taking simple, practica...

  “The fight for climate justice is a fight for women’s rights, for indigenous knowledge, and for reclaiming our place as caretakers of the earth.” — Vandana Shiva Few voices have so powerfully connected the struggles for environmental protection, social justice, and gender equality as Vandana Shiva. A physicist turned environmental activist, Shiva has spent decades showing how the exploitation of women and the destruction of nature stem from the same systems of domination  and how reclaiming women’s wisdom can help heal both society and the planet. Born in 1952 in Dehradun, India, Vandana Shiva trained as a physicist, earning a PhD in philosophy of science. But her path changed when she saw firsthand how industrial agriculture, deforestation, and corporate globalization were destroying rural communities and ecosystems in India. In the 1970s, she was inspired by the Chipko Movement , where Himalayan women literally hugged trees to prevent logging. This movement embodied a c...