With its auspicious goal to produce competent and efficient human resource that can be instrumental in conservation and management of biodiversity, environment and natural resources and  development of rural communities, the IOF-PC, with the help of its enthusiastic teaching faculty and spirited staff, has always endeavored to ameliorate its academic environment and administer well designed educational programs that can address the current needs of the country  and the globe in forestry and allied fields. It is committed to satisfying student's quest for knowledge and pragmatic skills that will make all the difference in their professional career. The IOF-PC is currently running the following academic programs:

  1. Master of Science in Forestry
  2. Master of Science in Natural Resource Management and Rural Development (NRMRD)
  3. Master of Science in Watershed Management (WM)
  4. Master of Science in Community Forestry (CF)
  5. Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) in Forestry

Beside regular academic programs, it also conducts short-term national and international training and workshops in Forestry and allied subjects.

Faculty Member

Rajesh Kumar Rai, PhD

Name : Rajesh Kumar Rai, PhD

Position : Professor

Campus: Tribhuvan University, Institute of Forestry, Pokhara Campus

Subject : Forestry

Department: Social Forestry and Forest Management

Education

  • PhD in Environmental Economics
  • MSc in European Forestry

Interest Area: 

  • Sustainable Forest Management, Invasive Species Management, Valuation of Ecosystem Services, Sustainable Financing, Climate Change Adaptation

Research and Publications

Journal Articles

  • Pant, B., Rai, R.K., Bhattarai, S., Neupane, N., Kotru, R., and Pyakurel, D. (2020) Actors in customary and modern trade of Caterpillar Fungus in Nepalese high mountains: who holds the power? Green Finance, 2(4): 373-391.
  • Rai, R.K., Homberg, M.J.C. van den., Ghimire, G.P., and McQuistan, C. (2020). Cost-benefit analysis of flood early warning system in the Karnali River Basin of Nepal. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 47: 101534.
  • Bharadwaj, B.; Rai, R.K.; and Nepal, M. (2020) Sustainable financing for municipal solid waste management in Nepal. PLoS ONE, 15(8): e0231933.
  • Dhakal, A.; and Rai, R.K. (2020) Who Adopts Agroforestry in A Subsistence Economy?—Lessons from the Terai of Nepal. Forests, 11(5): 565.
  • Nepal, M.; Rai, R.K.; Khadayat, M.S.; and Somanathan, E. (2020) Value of cleaner neighborhoods: Application of hedonic price model in low income context. World Development, 131 : 104965.
  • Bhattarai, S.; Pant, B.; Laudari, H.K.; Timalsina, N.; and Rai, R.K. (2020) Restoring landscapes through Trees Outside Forests: a case from Nepal’s Terai Region. International Forestry Review, 22(1): 33-48.
  • Rai, R.K., Neupane, K.R., Bajracharya, R.M., Ngamindra, D., Shrestha, S., and Devkotta, K. (2019) Economics of climate adaptive water management practices in Nepal. Heliyon, 5(5):e01668.
  • Rai, R.K., Nepal, M., Khadayat, M.S., and Bhardwaj, B. (2019) Improving Municipal Solid Waste Collection Services in developing countries: A case of Bharatpur Metropolitan City, Nepal. Sustainability, 11(11):3010.
  • Rai, R.K., Bhatta, L.D., Dahal, B., Rai, B., and Wahid, S.M. (2019) Determining community preferences in order to manage conflicts in small hydropower projects in Nepal. Sustainable Water Resources Management, 5(3):1103-1114.
  • Das, S., Nepal, M., Rai, R.K., Bhatta, L.D., and Khadayat, M.S. (2019) Valuing water provisioning service of Broadleaf and Chir Pine forests in the Himalayan region. Forest Policy and Economics, 105: 40-51.
  • Rai, R.K., Bhattrai, D., and Neupane, S. (2019) Designing solid waste collection strategy in small municipalities of developing countries using choice experiment. Journal of Urban Management. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jum.2018.12.008 .
  • Rai, R.K., Bhatta, L.D., Acharya, U., and Bhatta, A.P. (2018) Assessing climate-resilient agriculture for smallholders. Environmental Development, 27:26-33.
  • Rai, R.K., Shyamsundar, P., Nepal, M., and Bhatta, L.D. (2018) Financing watershed services in the foothills of the Himalayas. Water, 10 (7), 965.   
  • Nepal, M., Rai, R.K., Das, S., Bhatta, L.D., Kotru, R., Khadayat, M.S., Rawal R.S., Negi, G.C.S. (2018) Valuing cultural services of the Kailash Sacred Landscape for sustainable management. Sustainability, 10(10): 1-19.
  • Rai, R.K., Neupane, P.R., and Dhakal, A. (2016) Is the contribution of community forest users financially efficient? A Household level benefit-cost analysis of community forest management in Nepal. International Journal of the Commons, 10(1): 142-157. 
  • Pant, B., Rai, R., Wallrapp, C., Ghate, R., Shrestha, U.B., and Ram, A. (2017) Horizontal integration of multiple institutions: Solution for Yarshagumba related Conflict in the Himalayan Region of Nepal. International Journal of the Commons, 11(1): 464-486.
  • Ranabhat, S., Bhatta, L.D., Rai, R.K., Pant, B., Timalsina, N., Das, P.J., and Bisth, N. (2017) Can forest stand alone? Barriers to the restoration of the last remaining rainforest in Assam, India. International Forestry Review, 19(S4): 62-74.
  • Rai, R.K., Nepal, M., Bhatta, L., Das, S., Khadayat, M.S., Somanathana, E., and Baral, K. (2017) Ensuring Water Availability to Water Users through Incentive Payment for Ecosystem Services Scheme: A Case Study in a Small Hilly Town of Nepal. Water Economics and Policy. 5(4): 1850002
  • Rai, R.K., Dhakal, A., Khadayat, M.S. and Ranabhat, S. (2017) Is collaborative forest management in Nepal able to provide benefits to distantly located users? Forest Policy and Economics, 83: 156-161.
  • Bhatta, L.D., Khadgi, A., Rai, R.K., Tamang, B., Timalsina, K., and Shahriar, W. (2018) Designing community-based payment scheme for ecosystem services: a case from Koshi Hills, Nepal. Environment, Development and Sustianability: 20(4) 1831-1848.
  • Rai, R.K., Shyamsundar, P., Nepal, M., and Bhatta, L. (2015) Differences in demand for watershed services: Understanding preferences through a choice experiment in the Koshi Basin of Nepal. Ecological Economics, 119:274-283. 
  • Rai, R.K. and Scarborough, H. (2015) Understanding the Effects of the Invasive Plants on Rural Forest-dependent Communities. Small Scale Forestry, 14(1):59-72. 
  • Oort, B.v., Bhatta, L.D., Baral, H., Rai, R.K., Dhakal, M., Rucevska, L., and Adhikari, R. (2015) Assessing community values to support mapping of ecosystem services in the Koshi river basin, Nepal. Ecosystem Services. 13:70-80. 
  • Rai, R.K. and Scarborough, H. (2015) Non-market valuation in developing countries: Incorporating labour contributions in environmental benefits estimates. Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics. 59(4):479-498. 
  • Shrestha T.K., Aryal, A., Rai R.K., Koirala, S., Thapa Y.B., Jnawali, D., Kafle, R., Bhandari, B.P., and  Raubenheimer, D. (2014) Balancing wildlife and human needs: the protected forest approach in Nepal. Natural Areas Journal, 34(3) 376-380. 
  • Thapa B.B., Panthi S., Rai R.K., Shrestha U.B., Aryal A., Shrestha S., and Shrestha B (2014). An Assessment of Yarsagumba (Ophiocordyceps sinensis) Collection in Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve, Nepal. Journal of Mountain Science, 11(2):552-562. 
  • Rai, R.K., and, Scarborough, H. (2013). Economic value of mitigation of plant invaders in a subsistence economy: incorporating labour as a mode of payment. Environment and Development Economics, 18 (2): 225-244. 
  • Rai, R.K., and Rai, R. (2013) Assessing the temporal variation in the perceived effects of invasive plant species on rural livelihoods: A case of Mikania micrantha invasion in Nepal. Conservation Science, 1(1): 13-18. 
  • Aryal, A., Raubenheimer, D., Pandit, R., Rai, R.K, Shrestha, U.B., Lama, N., and Brunton, D. (2013). Rangelands and Society: Status, rights, conflicts and traditional rangeland management strategies in Upper Mustang Region, Nepal. Mountain Research and Development 33(1): 11-18. 
  • Rai, R.K., Sandilya, M., and Subedi, R. (2012), Controlling Mikania micrantha H.B.K.: How effective manual cutting is? Journal of Ecology and Field Biology 35(3): 235-242.
  • Rai, R.K., Scarborough, H., Subedi, N., and, Lamichhane, B.R. (2012), Invasive plants- do they   devastate or diversify rural livelihoods? Rural farmers’ perception of three invasive plants in Nepal. Journal for Nature Conservation 20(3):170-176.

Book/Book Chapter

  • Contributing Author of Chapter 6: Responses to halt land degradation and to restore degraded land. In IPBES (2018): The IPBES assessment report on land degradation and restoration. Montanarella, L., Scholes, R., and Brainich, A. (eds.). Secretariat of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem services, Bonn, Germany, pp. 631-764.
  • Rai, R.K., Panta, B., and Nepal, M. (2018). In: Dhungana, S., Poudel, M. and Bhandari, T.S. (eds) Costs and Benefits of Implementing REDD+ in Nepal. REDD Implementation Center, Government of Nepal, Kathmandu. Page: 91-100.
  • Rai, R.K. and Keshari, V. (2018). Bio-Finance and Biodiversity in Nepal. In: Dhakal, M., Lamichhane, D., Ghimire, M.D., Poudyal, A., Uprety, Y., Svich, T., and Pandey, M. (eds)  25 Years of Achievements on Biodiversity conservation in Nepal. Ministry of Forests and Environment, Kathmandu. Page: 105-108.
  • Rai, R.K. and Schmerbeck, J. (2018) Why Forest Plantations are disputed? An assessment of locally important ecosystem services from the Cryptomeria japonica plantations in the Darjeeling Hills, India. In: Goncalves, A.C. (eds) Conifers. IntechOpen, London. Page: 113-126.
  • Bhatta, L.D., Rai, R.K., and Udas, E. (2017) Incentives for Ecosystem Services. In: Mishra, A. and Agrawal, N.K. (eds) Building mountain resilience: solutions from the Hindu Kush Himalaya.  Page: 11-14.
  • Rai, R.K. (2011) Plantation forests and ecosystem services: variation in ecosystem services from different plantations in the eastern Himalayas. Lambert Academic Publishing, Germany. PP 92.

Working Paper

  • Rai, R.K., Nepal, M., Karky, B.S., Somanathan, E., Timalsina, N., Khadayat, M., and Bhattarai, N. (2017). Costs and Benefits of Reducing Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Nepal. Working Paper 2017/5. International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), Nepal.
  • Nepal, M., Das, S., Rai, R.K., Bhatta, L., Somanathan, E., Kotru, R., Khadayat, M., Rawal, R., and Negi, GCS (2017). Valuation of Ecosystem Services in the Kailash Sacred Landscape. Research Report 2017/2. ICIMOD and SANDEE, Kathmandu, Nepal.
  • Rai, R.K., Shyamsundar, P., Bhatta, L.D., and Nepal, M. (2016) Designing a payment for ecosystem services scheme for the Sardukhola Watershed in Nepal. SANDEE and ICIMOD, Nepal.
  • Rai, R.K., Nepal, M., Shyamsundar, P., and Bhatta, L.D. (2014). Demand for watershed services: understanding local preferences through a choice experiment in the Koshi Basin of Nepal. Working Paper No 88-14. SANDEE and ICIMOD, Nepal.
  • Rai, R.K., and Scarborough, H. (2012) Valuing Damages caused by Invasive Plant Species in a Low Income community in Nepal. Wokring Paper No 74-12. South Asian Network for Development and Environmental Economics (SANDEE), Nepal. 

Other Responsibilities

  • Review Editor-  Invasive Alien Species Assessment, Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) 

Contact Address

Mobile: +977-9840090613
Email: [email protected] / [email protected]

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