Centre for International Relations

Tribhuvan University

Kirtipur, Kathmandu, Nepal


Asst. Professor (Watershed Management)
Mahendra Singh Thapa
Institute of Forestry
Male

Name: Mahendra Singh Thapa

Position: Asst. Professor

Unit: Department of Watershed Management and Envirionment Science, Pokhara Campus, Institute of Forestry

Other Appointments: Assistant Dean, Institute of Forestry.

 

Email: msthapaiof@gmail.com

 

Research Identifiers:

 

Research Impact (Google Scholar):

h-index: 7

Total citations: 102

 

Download CV

 

Research Interest/Expertise: 

GIS and Remote Sensing; Natural Resource Management; Forestry;  Watershed Management; Environment Science and Climate Change. 

 

Teaching:

GIS and Remote Sensing; Natural Resource Management; Forestry; Watershed Management; Environmental Science and Climate Change; Research Methodology.

 

Key Awards/Honors/Recognitions:

  • Fellowship from University Grant Commission (UGC) Nepal and EFN faculty grant from WWF for PhD in Assessing the outcomes of community-based forest restoration in Central Nepal from IOF, TU Nepal.

  • Scholarship for the completion of CSSTEAP (Affiliated to UN), a 9-month postgraduate course in Remote Sensing and GIS from Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, ISRO, department of Space, Government of India, Dehradun, India

  • Fellowship for the completion of the master degree in natural resource management and rural development from ITTO Yokohama, Japan.

  • Research grant by the Bio-Diversity Sector Program for Siwalik and Terai (BISEP-ST) as partial fulfilment for the completion of a Master of Science in Natural Resource Management and Rural Development (NRMRD) on the thesis entitled Market Potentiality of Tropical Timber Species in Terai Community Forests of Nepal.

•    Bachelor Degree: Pokhara Campus, Institute of Forestry, Nepal 2005
•    Master Degree: Pokhara Campus, Institute of Forestry, Nepal 2007

Professional Affiliations:

  • Treasurer of Nepal University Professors Association Campus committee Pokhara Campus Pokhara from 2079-082

  • Member Secretary of Institute of Forestry, Research Committee 31 May 2019 to 16 July 2021

  • SAT committee Member of Quality Assurance and Accreditation of IOF for UGC  

  • Life member of the "Nepal Red Cross Society".

  • Founder President of Research Conservation and Development Nepal (RCDN), Pokhara Nepal.

  • Life Member of Nepal Foresters Association

  • General Member of Tribhuvan University Teachers Association (TUTA)

  • General Member of British Ecological Society

 

Selected Recent Research Projects:

  1. Completed Small Research report on Assessing the Ecosystem Services of Community Managed Forest Restoration in Chitwan Nepal Submitted to the Research Directorate, Rector's Office, Tribhuvan University in June 2024

  2. Completed Faculty grant research on contribution of forest restoration in stand structure in Kankali Community Forest of Chitwan Nepal in June 2024.

  3. Completed research report on Contribution of forest restoration in stand structure and carbon stock: A case study from Kankali community forest of Chitwan Nepal submitted to research committee IOF Pokhara Campus in June 2024

  4. Completed project on Building Climate Change Resilience through Community Based Natural Waterholes Conservation in CFMs of, Lamjung District with the support from SCIFOR Project, Denmark.

  5. Completed Project on Digital Demarcation and Mapping of Forest Area of the Jhapa District Forest Office on 2015 with the support from Department of Forest.

  6. Completed project on Building Climate Change Resilience through Community Based Natural Waterholes Conservation in Tamagadi CFM, Bara on 2015 with the support from WWF Nepal.

  7. Completed project on Modelling and Mapping of Aboveground Woody Carbon Stock Integrating Very High Resolution Satellite Imagery and Field Inventory in Bagmara Community Forest, Chitwan Nepal on 2015 with the support of NORHED Project.

  8. Principal Investigator for Assessment and Mapping Aboveground Carbon Stock using High Resolution Satellite Imagery in Doon Valley Uttarakhand, India, PGD Thesis in March 2014 with the financial assistance of CSSTEAP, IIRS

  9. Team member for Socio-economic impact assessment of Rastrapati Chure Conservation Project (RCCP) in Makawanpur, Bara, Parsa, Rautahat and Udaypur District of Nepal, conducted by Nepal Foresters Association (NFA) for the Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation, May-June, 2013.

Selected Recent Publications:

  1. Choksi, P., Lalai, D., Menon, A., Joglekar, A., Roy, A., Ramprasad, Vijaya R., Thapa M. S., ... & Fleischman, F. (2025). How do trees outside forests contribute to human wellbeing? A systematic review from South Asia. Environmental Research Letters.

  2. Lamichhane, S., Thapa, A., Thapa, M. S., Panthi, S., & Giordano, A. J. (2023). Understanding human-leopard conflict in the Mid-hill region of western Nepal. Journal of Mountain Science, 20(12), 3464-3475.

  3. Bist, DB, Thapa, M S, Bista U and Awasthi N (2020): Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) based landslide susceptibility mapping of Kaligandaki Hydro-catchment of Syangja, Nepal Agriculture and Forestry Journal,Vol 4, Issue 2, PP 80-90. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/ZENODO.4310940

  4. Thapa M.S., Pandey, M and Dhakal S. (2025). Ecosystem services of Community-Managed Forest restoration in Chitwan Nepal eJournal of Applied Forest Ecology (eJAFE), Vol. 13. No. 1, PP 08-23

  5. Bhandari AJ, Joshi R, Thapa M.S, Sharma RP, Rauniyar SK, (2022): Land Cover Change and Its Impact in Crop Yield: A Case Study from Western Nepal, The Scientific World Journal, vol. 2022, Article ID 5129423, 9 pages, https://doi.org/10.1155/2022/5129423. 

  6. Sharma, G., & Thapa, M. S (2023). Spatial and Temporal Distribution of Forest Fire in Terai and Chure Range, Nepal. eJournal of Applied Forest Ecology (eJAFE), Vol. 11. No. 1, PP 39-48

  7. Thapa MS, Lama, S., and Pariyar, S. (2019). Spatial Temporal Dynamics of Human Elephant Conflict in Parsa-Bagmati Corridor of Terai Arc Landscape, Nepal. eJournal of Applied Forest Ecology (eJAFE) , Vol. 7. No. 2, PP 1-6.

  8. Sharma, R P and Thapa MS (2019): Soil Fertility and Soil Quality Index inTibrekot, Community Forest, Western Nepal. eJournal of Applied Forest Ecology (eJAFE), Vol. 7. No. 1, PP 37-46

  9. Regmi, S. R., Thapa, M. S., Adhikari, R., & Regmi, R. R. (2021). Dynamics of Land Surface Temperature in Response to Land Use Land Cover Change in Phewa watershed, Kaski, Nepal. Forestry: Journal of Institute of Forestry, Nepal, 18(01), 6180. https://doi.org/10.3126/forestry.v18i01.41758

  10. Thapa MS, Bhattrai. T, Sharma, R P, KC, Baburam and Puri, L. (2020): Analytical Study on Fertility Status and Soil Quality      Index of Shorea robusta Forest, Central Nepal.Tribhuvan University Journal. Nepal. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3126/tuj.v33i2.33560