Program Officer
Forest Management
manish@forestaction.org
Mr Manish Shrestha is a forestry researcher and professional working on community-based forest management, forest fires, forest carbon, REDD+, and climate resilience in Nepal. With Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees in Forestry and field experience across community forestry programs, he works at the intersection of ecological research, participatory forest governance, and policy. He uses mixed-methods approaches that combine GIS and modelling tools with community knowledge, and shares findings through publications, policy briefs, and regional platforms linking science, policy, and practice.
Publications
Shrestha, M., K.C, D., Karki, R., and Bashyal, M. (2026). From voluntarism to incentivised forest fire management in Nepal: Evidence on labour costs and risk perceptions from four CFUGs. Journal of Forest and Livelihood, 26(1), 89-107.
Hill, A. and Shrestha, M. (2026). Institutional fragmentation and forest fire management in federal Nepal: Bridging the governance gap through incident management systems. Journal of Forest and Livelihood, 26(1), 129-141.
Shrestha, M., Baral, S., Shrestha, U.B., and Kunwar, R.M. (2025). Ensemble modelling to assess the dynamics of invasive plant species under changing climate in Bagmati Province, Nepal. Biodiversitas Journal of Biological Diversity, 26(6).
Shrestha, M., Bohara, M., Sharma, N.S., Karki, R., and Karna, B. (2025). Strengthening Forest Fire Management in Nepal. Policy Brief No. 52. ForestAction Nepal.
Adhikari, J., Shrestha, M., and Gautam, A. (2025). Understanding local perception on NTFP availability in the Himalayan landscape of Nepal. Journal of Forest and Livelihood, 25(1), 78-92.
Gautam, S., Timilsina, S., Shrestha, M., Adhikari, B., Khatri, B.B.A., and Timsina, J. (2023). Do Managed Hill Sal (Shorea robusta) Community Forests of Nepal Sequester and Conserve More Carbon than Unmanaged Ones? Environment and Natural Resources Journal, 21(3), 222-231.
Gautam, S., Timilsina, S., and Shrestha, M. (2021). The effects of forest management activities on genetic diversity of forest trees. Indonesian Journal of Social and Environmental Issues (IJSEI), 2(2), 110-118.