Designing and facilitating effective forest carbon policy in the Hindu Kush Himalayas
• Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) forests play an important role in carbon sequestration. • An integrated forest policy reform reduces the climate change impact on HKH forests. • Forest-based carbon management in HKH addresses regional climate change challenges. • A transboundary institutional framework proposed to address carbon policy in HKH. The Hindu-Kush Himalaya are a critical biodiversity hotspot and a major global reservoir of forest carbon, with substantial potential to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. Yet the region is facing increasing socioeconomic and ecological stress from rapid warming and human disturbances. To respond to these escalating risks, urgent reforms in forest governance are required. Here, we propose a transboundary institutional framework grounded in research and active local community engagement, capable of designing, facilitating, and implementing coordinated forest-carbon policies across the Hindu-Kush Himalaya. This approach addresses cross-border emission dynamics and fosters collaborative policy actions that can simultaneously advance carbon sequestration, biodiversity conservation, and sustainable development within the region.
Authors
- Wangya Han (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1075-1540)
- Jiacheng Zhao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2167-0412)
- Evgenios Agathokleous (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0058-4857)
- Syed Moazzam Nizami (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3223-9687)
- Lingxiu Zhang
- Fangmin Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1419-3117)
- Giri Kattel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8348-6477)
- Guoyong Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0932-4063)
- Weixue Luo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3809-4335)
- Rajan Subedi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0471-070X)
- Ning Miao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1783-5827)
- Zhen Yu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0091-0448)
- Guoqin Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7396-624X)
- Zhaozhong Feng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9775-5113)
- Krishna Raj Tiwari (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8278-9997)
- Bishnu Hari Wagle
- Lu Hao
- Naya Sharma Paudel
- Upama Asish Koju Maharjan
Institutions
- International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (NP)
- Southwest University (CN)
- Tribhuvan University (NP)
- The University of Melbourne (AU)
- Henan University (CN)
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology (CN)
- United Nations Environment Programme (KE)
- Sichuan University (CN)
- University of Haripur (PK)
- Nepal Participatory Action Network (NP)
- Tsinghua University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Trees Forests and People
- Published
- 2025-10-10
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tfp.2025.101046
- Primary Topic
- Conservation, Biodiversity, and Resource Management
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00