In spite of the many recent UN system-wide commitments and mandates to evaluate progress made in gender mainstreaming, an assessment of the current status of socio-economic and gender-sensitive indicators in the management of natural resources revealed an almost complete lack of practical experience in this area. Not surprisingly, there was a disappointingly low level of gender-sensitive monitoring of natural resource management projects. To fill these knowledge gaps, this paper develops gender-sensitive indicators through the identification of gender-sensitive factors that put differential pressure on the management and use of natural resources. A core set of gender-sensitive indicators was arrived at, based on in-site field verifications of the management of agrobiodiversity in Nepal and of reclaimed lands in Egypt, combining both qualitative and quantitative data sources. Wide in scope and application possibilities, gender-sensitive indicators can be used to monitor the impact of a specific project but could also be used more broadly to monitor whether and how the relationship between women and men and their natural resources evolves and changes over time. Thus, the systematic monitoring of gender-sensitive indicators will allow for the formulation of a more sustainable, efficient and effective development response, making their contribution towards achieving the MDGs by 2015.