October 15^th marks the International Day of Rural Women – a day that is dedicated to the millions of women living in remote, rural places and celebrates their essential contributions to rural development and agriculture. This day is a reminder that rural women have critical roles – whether paid or unpaid – in managing, conserving, exploiting and utilising natural resources.

Ecological sustainable development requires the complete and optimal engagement of rural women, and all women. Beyond a moral imperative, equal participation and engagement is critical as rural women are uniquely situated – with critical in-depth knowledge from livelihood activities tied to environmental quality and ecosystem services. Rural women’s knowledge, agency and collective action are central to improving resource productivity and efficiency prospects, ecosystem and biodiversity conservation and sustainable use, and climate change mitigation.

Yet women’s contributions to critical environmental sectors are often overlooked, ignored and undervalued in regions like the Asia-Pacific.[1] In Fiji, for example, one study explored how overlooking the contributions of rural women to the fisheries sector risks uninformed policy development and decision-making.[2]

The situation of women in rural areas also remains challenging – with a range of inequalities, such as discriminatory laws and entrenched social norms, impinging on human rights and restricting women’s potential as agents of change, especially in comparison to men and their urban counterparts.[3]

Although we need increased participation and engagement among rural women, caution is needed here as viewing rural women as ‘sustainability saviours’ carries its own set of issues.[4] Too often, women’s labour, much alike the natural environment that supports us, is treated as an infinite resource. [5] Their […]