For many women living in the Cook Islands, collecting yellow land snails to make jewelry and other handicrafts is their sole source of income. Recent extensive dry spells have made these shells more difficult to find.
"Sometimes we will spend weeks on end to fill an empty can which we used to fill within a few hours," says Tangiruaine Ngaruaine. "At the beginning of this year, it was truly tough because there was hardly any rain. Whatever I make from selling these shells is my 'income' and it has been my only source of income."
Ngaruaine's story is represented here at COP16 by Ulamila Wragg, one of an expanding number of women participating in official UNFCCC climate negotiations.
Wragg is here at COP16 an an official delegate for the Cook Islands, one of the women delegates funded and trained by the Women's Development Fund to represent female voices, particularly those of women who are disproportionately impacted by the impacts of climate change in least developed countries.
continued at Daily Kos....
