Gender and culture play an important role in sustainable natural resource use, especially in the Himalayan landscapes of the Indian subcontinent. Culture shapes people’s identities and determines the ways they relate to their surrounding environment. UNESCOdesignated World Heritage Sites are good examples of setting standards and sharing best practices from around the world. The management of World Heritage Sites aligns with the cultural beliefs underpinning the functions of a place and the roles of women and men, including access to the site. In this paper, a gender lens is applied to the definition of heritage to further analyse the role of heritage sites, especially for inter-generational transmission of values associated with the site. Case studies from mountain ecosystems in South Asia have been reviewed to illustrate the diversity of cultures, beliefs and practices exercised around natural world heritage sites including cultural landscapes and the role of gender. Examples are drawn from UNESCO-designated World Heritage Sites such as the Manas Wildlife Sanctuary, Khangchendzonga National Park, Nanda Devi National Park in India and Chitwan National Park in Nepal. Ecosystem-based livelihood practices that create sustainable interactions between people and nature have been the hallmark of such sites, and therefore occupy a prominent position in the discourse on heritage sites. It is argued that these sites have retained their Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) inter alia through oral traditions that are passed from one generation to another primarily through women. Gender equality is instrumental in broadening the definition of natural heritage, as gender enriches the scope and meaning of heritage for the benefit of society at large.