Socio-cultural determinants of women’s intentions to engage with urban forests in a Middle Eastern metropolis

• Investigates socio-cultural drivers of women's pro-environmental intentions. • Women’s intention is primarily shaped by family, religious and cultural values. • Close social structures outweigh symbolic role models in shaping intentions. • Social recognition reinforces women’s participation in urban forest conservation. • A gender-sensitive, framework is proposed for inclusive forest governance. Women play a critical yet often underexplored role in shaping human–forest relationships in urban environments, particularly within societies such Middle Eastern cities where social life is strongly structured by family ties, religious beliefs, and cultural norms. This study examines how familial support, religious environmental values, and cultural values shape women’s engagement with urban forests in Tehran, a large and socially complex metropolis. Drawing on survey data collected from 397 women visiting urban forests, the study investigates socio-cultural pathways that influence women’s intentions to protect urban forests. Using partial least squares structural equation modeling, the analysis reveals that familial support and religious environmental values are the most influential factors shaping women’s engagement, followed by cultural values and perceived social recognition. In contrast, social role models show no direct influence. These findings highlight that women’s relationships with urban forests are primarily shaped through close social structures and culturally embedded value systems rather than through distant or symbolic influences. By foregrounding family, faith, and culture, this study advances a people-centered understanding of urban forest engagement and contributes to broader debates on gender, inclusion, and stewardship in forest-related social research. The results underscore the importance of culturally grounded and socially embedded approaches to urban forest governance, particularly in contexts where women’s public engagement is closely mediated by family and religious norms.