Kathmandu, March 2 -- Last month, a 49-year-old woman from ward 8 of Kharpunath Rural Municipality in Humla district sustained serious burn injuries while trying to contain a massive forest fire near her home. The fire had caught her clothes, when the woman had tried to beat back the raging inferno with green twigs and dirt.

The fire was accidentally started by children, who were playing near her home. "There were no male members in my family or in neighbouring households or even health workers to attend to me," the victim said.

"This is a problem of every village," said Dilli Giri, secretary of the Federation of Community Forest Users Nepal. "As most villages are becoming devoid of young males due to migration, there are only women, el...