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]