WOMEN, ENVIRONMENT, AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Poor and vulnerable populations are disproportionately concentrated in the most ecologically degraded environments of the world. In developi ng countries degraded environments threaten the survival of rural hous eholds. Developing countries have been launching, in partnership with rural people, a wide variety of development programs to improve these degraded and depleted environments. The paper examines women's partici pation in community forestry programs and factors that contribute to t heir participation in reforestation programs. The paper, drawing from several case studies conducted in Nepal, discusses factors hindering t he involvement of rural poor in these programs: barriers rooted in the fear of exploitation and inaccessibility of resources. It then outlin es how social workers can advocate for the participation of the poor t o promote sustainable development.