There is a curious contradiction when we discuss the role of women in sustainable development in mountain regions. Women play a key role with respect to environmental protection and social and economic development in mountain areas: they are often the primary managers of mountain resources, guardians of biodiversity, and the main actors in terms of agriculture, animal husbandry, fuelwood collection and other small-scale economic activities. Mountain women are keepers of traditional knowledge, custodians of local culture and experts in traditional medicine, but they are also open to new ideas about improving the lives and livelihoods of their communities. Mountain women are also educators and often have the primary responsibility to raise children as the head of then household, especially in cases where mountain men migrate to lowlands and cities in search of jobs, or engage in armed conflicts. All of these factors increase the workload, food insecurity and poverty of mountain women, especially in the developing world. But all too often mountain women are invisible and their voices go unheard. They rarely participate in decisions affecting the management and use of local resources; they have few if any legal rights, no access to credit, poor access to formal education and health services and limited access to training and extension services. They are constrained by traditions and customary laws, they are victims of domestic violence, arranged marriages, girl marriages, selective abortion and sexual mutilation.
