Part 1. Introduction.- 1. Natural Disasters, Marginal Regions and Labor Migration (Pushkar K Pradhan and Walter Leimgruber).- Part 2. Human Interference and Natural Systems.- 2. Environmental Un-Sustainability or the Cost of Civilization (Walter Leimgruber).- 3. Climate Change and Health Impacts on Vulnerable Communities: the Case of Kala-Azar (Visceral Leishmaniasis) in Nepal (Bandana Pradhan and Birgit Kuna).- 4. Cryosphere Changes, Cascading Disasters, and Societies – a Case in Langtang Valley (Binaya Pasakhala, Amina Maharjan, Sabarnee Tuladhar, Arabinda Mishra).- Part 3. Geomorphological and Water Issues: Nepal and Brazil.- 5. Urbanization and Soil Erosion in the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal (Chhabi L Chidi).- 6. Assessing Terrain Hazards for Sustainable Human Settlements in Chāngunārāyan Municipality of the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal (Krishna Karkee, Shakti Gurung and Anish Joshi).- 7. River Ecology Services and Riparian Communities in the Tāmākoshi River Basin, Central Nepal (Uttam S Shrestha and Saruna Amatya Shrestha).- 8. Traditional Water Supply Systems and Sponge City Concept Toward Improving Environmental Marginalization in Kirtipur Municipality, Nepal (Gyanu R Maharjan).- 9. Everyday Water use: Vulnerability and Resistance in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal (Shobha Shrestha and Devi P Poudel).- 10. Marginalized Urban Rivers: Between Local Governance and Environmental Justice (Ivaldo Lima).- Part 4. Economy and Society: Nepal and Southeast Asia.- 11. Empowerment of Dalit Women’s Groups Through Micro-Finance and Social Capital in Nepal (Chikako Aoki and Pushkar K Pradhan).- 12. Informal Marketing and Livelihood of Marginal Communities in Urban Kathmandu Valley, Nepal (Puspa Sharma).- 13. Farmers’ access to agriculture development services in eastern hills of Nepal: a case of the Tinjure-Milke Watershed Region (Shyam P. Wagle).- 14. People’s Accessibility and Periodic Markets in the Tankhuwākholā Watershed, Eastern Hills of Nepal (Shambhu P. Khatiwada).- 15. Human-Elephant Conflict Impact Toward Marginalized Community of Ulu Tembeling (Jamalunlaili Abdullah and Mohd Ruzed Embong).- 16. Sedentarization Program and Everyday Resistance to State Intervention in Vietnam’s Upland (Doo-Chul Kim and Quy Le Ngoc Phuong).- Part 5. Regional Policy Issues.- 17. Accessibility and Governance Systems in Local Development: Measuring Marginality in the Mid-Marsyāngdi River Basin, Nepal (Balkrishna Baral).- 18. Cohesion Policy in the Struggle Against the Marginalization of the Inner Peripheries – Polish Experience and Recommendations (Pawel Churski, Anna Dubownik, Czeslaw Adamiak & Barbara Szyda).- 19. Between Two Empires: the Jiftlik Marginal Lands in the Jordan Valley and the Jiftlik Ottoman Saraya and British Police Post 1890-1948 (Rivka Yermiash and Ruth Kark).- Part 6. Conclusion.- 20. Humans and Nature: Conflict or Cooperation? (Pushkar K Pradhan, Walter Leimgruber).

This book focuses on the interrelations between nature and humans, in particular on those segments of societies that have been left behind (marginal groups). Nature is both the friend of humans and their adversary, depending on the way people treat and use it. Consequently, the book adopts a wide perspective of marginality: nature that has been marginalized by man (ecological marginality), but also social groups marginalized by politics, economic interests, and value judgements imbedded in culture. Many chapters deal specifically with issues in Nepal, but along with the other chapters with case studies from Southeast Asia and other regions, they demonstrate that the major man-nature problems are the same everywhere and can only be solved by constructive politics through clear regulations, convincing actions and general acceptance.