Prepared by Philip Chambers (March 2026)
Throughout history, women in forestry have broken barriers and shaped conservation despite facing significant challenges. In March 2025, the IUFRO Task Force on Gender Equality in Forestry (ForGEDI) launched a Women’s History Month social media campaign highlighting pioneering female foresters from across the globe. From North America to Antarctica, these remarkable women made profound contributions to forestry and environmental conservation, often without recognition. Their stories remind us that the path to gender equality in forestry has been paved by extraordinary individuals whose legacies deserve celebration.
Africa: Dr Wangari Maathai (1940-2011)
Dr Wangari Maathai was a trailblazing environmentalist who, whilst not formally trained in forestry, became Africa’s most influential female conservationist. After earning her PhD in veterinary anatomy from the University of Nairobi in 1971 (making her the first woman in East and Central Africa to earn a doctorate degree), she founded the Green Belt Movement, which has planted over 51 million trees across Kenya and provided sustainable income to thousands of rural women.
Despite being arrested and beaten multiple times for her activism, she persevered and was later elected to Kenya’s Parliament in 2002, subsequently being appointed Assistant Minister for Environment and Natural Resources. In 2004, she became the first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy, and peace.
Her legacy continues through the Wangari Maathai Award, established by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation to recognise outstanding contributions to forests and climate stability. She often shared the Hummingbird story: ‘I will be a hummingbird, I will do the best I can’ as a philosophy for environmental action.
Oceania: Mary Sutherland (1893-1955)
Mary Sutherland made history as the first woman to earn a forestry degree in the entire former British Empire, graduating from Edinburgh University in 1916. Her pioneering spirit was evident when she joined the New Zealand Forest Service in 1924, becoming the nation’s first female professional forester. Despite her qualifications, she was initially employed at a lower rank and salary than her male counterparts.
Undeterred, she specialised in the adaptation of exotic tree species to New Zealand’s climate and developed innovative nursery techniques that dramatically improved seedling survival rates. Her numerous scientific publications became foundational to New Zealand’s forestry industry.
Many are unaware that Sutherland was also a founding member of the New Zealand Institute of Forestry (NZIF) and designed the official seal that became the foundation of the current NZIF logo. Her leadership in the organisation was significant. She served as an NZIF councillor from 1935 to 1936 and as vice president from 1941 to 1942. Her legacy endures through the Mary Sutherland scholarship, offered annually by the NZIF Foundation, which was established through her generous bequest.
Asia: Amrita Devi Bishnoi (18th century)
In 1730, Amrita Devi Bishnoi led one of history’s first recorded environmental protests in Rajasthan, India. When the king’s soldiers came to cut down sacred khejri trees, she and 363 members of her Bishnoi community made the ultimate sacrifice, hugging the trees and declaring, ‘a chopped head is cheaper than a felled tree.’
This brave act of resistance led to a royal decree from the Maharaja of Jodhpur prohibiting tree cutting in Bishnoi villages. The Bishnoi community follows 29 principles, many of which are centred on environmental protection, making them early conservation leaders.
Today, the Indian government commemorates this sacrifice through the Amrita Devi Bishnoi Wildlife Protection Award, and 11 September is observed as National Forest Martyrs Day in India. Her story demonstrates that women’s dedication to forest conservation extends back centuries, long before formal forestry education was even available to them.
Antarctica: Dr Marie Stopes (1880-1958)
Before becoming known for her work in other fields, Dr Marie Stopes made significant contributions to palaeobotany as one of the first women to study ancient forest fossils in Antarctica during expeditions in the early 1900s. In 1903, she became the first woman to receive a PhD in botany from the University of Munich, where her research focused on cycad plants and their evolutionary history.
As the first female academic at the University of Manchester, she undertook expeditions that required remarkable physical endurance in extremely harsh conditions. Her groundbreaking research on Carboniferous coal balls and fossilised plant remains helped establish knowledge about prehistoric Antarctic forests.
Her work in Japan (1907-1908) resulted in the discovery of new plant species and the documentation of coal formations, contributing to the understanding of forest evolution in East Asia. She also conducted pioneering research on the structure and evolution of seed ferns, helping establish evolutionary links between ancient and modern forest ecosystems. Her collection of over 3,000 fossil samples (still studied today) revealed evidence of ancient climate change, showing Antarctica once had a tropical climate.
South America: Olga Marsiglia de Montenegro (c. 1940s-2017)
Olga Marsiglia was a true pioneer who became the first woman in South America to earn a degree in Forest Engineering. She graduated on 10 September 1963 from the Faculty of Forestry Engineering in Santiago del Estero, Argentina (then part of the National University of Córdoba).
Her journey was far from easy. When she began her studies in 1958, she was already married and a mother, which made her achievement even more remarkable. She persevered through long hours of study, limited access to forestry resources, and the challenges of being a woman in a male-dominated field. When she took her final exam in Dasonomía (Forest Science), she faced a panel of three distinguished European forestry experts and earned the highest grade.
Reflecting on her career, she once said: ‘In those years, it was rare to find women professionals in forestry, whether in Europe or Latin America. But over time, interest grew, and today, we have a high percentage of women in this field. Forests have been essential since the beginning of humanity and will remain so until the end of time. I urge young professionals to put all their knowledge and effort into ensuring that future generations inherit a green, clean, and balanced planet.’
Marsiglia’s legacy lives on, inspiring women across Latin America to pursue careers in forestry. Although she passed away on 6 January 2017, her impact on the profession endures.
Europe: Aurora Gruescu (1914-2005)
Aurora Gruescu broke extraordinary ground as the world’s first female forestry engineer and became the first Romanian to be listed in the Guinness Book of Records. Born in 1914 in Romania, she discovered her passion for forestry at 10 during a school excursion. During this pivotal moment in a forest clearing, young Aurora made a personal covenant with the forest that would shape her entire life.
Her journey was one of determination in the face of significant odds. Initially, she pursued medicine to please her parents, but after finding it unfulfilling, she made the bold decision to switch to forestry, a field considered exclusively male at the time. At the Forestry Faculty of Politehnica University of Bucharest, she was the only woman amongst 130 candidates competing for just 13 spots. Her male colleagues refused to speak to her for two years, and one classmate even declared, ‘I have nothing to discuss with a girl about problems that are men’s.’
Gruescu’s remarkable career spanned from 1938 until her retirement in 1973. She began her career as a forestry engineer and later served as a forestry sub-inspector with Romania’s State Autonomous Forest Administration (CAPS). Even during the Second World War, she continued her work, relocating to Lugoj. Her achievements include developing Romania’s first national afforestation plan targeting 100,000 hectares and implementing innovative chemical pest-control measures in the forests surrounding Bucharest.
Branded a ‘class enemy’ under the communist regime, she had her property seized. Although later honoured by the same regime and courted to join the party, she consistently refused. After retiring at age 59, she fulfilled her dream of travelling, eventually visiting China.
Her trailblazing contributions earned her numerous honours. In 1997, she was nominated by The American Biographical Institute for the ‘Personality of the Year’ title. Her status as the world’s first female forestry engineer was officially confirmed in 2000. She was also proposed to appear on a Romanian banknote alongside 11 other remarkable women.
Aurora Gruescu passed away on 25 August 2005. Her extraordinary life inspired the book Covenant with the Mystery of the Forests by journalist Rodica Simionescu.
North America: Margaret Stoughton Abell (1908-1998)
Margaret Stoughton Abell broke barriers as the first American woman to earn a professional forestry degree, graduating from the University of Maine in 1933. During her career with the U.S. Forest Service, she pioneered research in dendrology (the study of trees) and conducted crucial studies on tree diseases threatening American forests.
Her work became especially vital during the Second World War when many women stepped into forestry roles to replace men serving in the military. Through her published scientific papers on tree identification methods, she helped establish women’s place in scientific forestry and conservation.
Margaret’s background in statistics, learnt under Professor George Snedecor at Iowa State, made her particularly valuable to the Forest Service at a time when rigorous data analysis was transforming forestry research. Her innovative use of statistical methods in publications demonstrated the important role that quantitative analysis would play in modern forest management.
Looking Forward
These remarkable women (from different continents, different eras, and different backgrounds) share common threads of determination, excellence, and dedication to forests and environmental conservation. Whether they were the first to earn forestry degrees, pioneering researchers, environmental activists, or conservation leaders, each faced significant barriers yet persevered to make lasting contributions to the profession.
Their stories remind us that progress towards gender equality in forestry has been hard-won and that we must continue working to ensure that future generations of women have equal opportunities to contribute to forest science and management.
The ForGEDI initiative continues this work through education, advocacy, and the development of resources, such as our Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on gender equality in forestry. By celebrating these pioneering women, we honour their legacy and inspire the next generation of female foresters who will shape the future of our forests.
This campaign was developed by the IUFRO Task Force on Gender Equality in Forestry (ForGEDI). For more information about our work and to access our online course on gender equality in forestry, visit https://forgedi.org/.
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