bioSUSTAINABILITY have endorsed a proposal by principle investigator Dr. Harini Nagendra Ashoka from the Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE, Bangalore, India) and a team from India, Nepal, Thailand and the US, submitted to Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research (APN).

Forest Change in the Mountainous Regions of South and Southeast Asia: A Human Dimensions Perspective

In the densely populated landscapes of South/Southeast Asia, protected areas constitute some of the most hotly contested refuges for biodiversity. This project will assess the human drivers of land cover change in protected area-embedded landscapes. Using case studies from Thailand, Nepal, the Indian Himalayas and Indian Western Ghats. We will investigate the interface between social development initiatives and forest management, and develop policy-relevant findings that contribute to the debate on involving local communities in forest management. This project will enable a South Asian framework for land cover change research, and develop linkages with research in south-east Asia.