The Chitwan-Annapurna Landscape (CHAL) covers around 32,000 km2 from Annapurna to the mid-hills of the Chitwan National Park. Roughly 40% of the area is classified as forest or shrub land. The CHAL is characterized by high habitat diversity and is considered a key area for migratory birds. More than four million people live in CHAL, many of them in very isolated places with poor access to markets. These people dependent on forest resources and ecosystem services for their livelihoods and wellbeing. At the same time, biodiversity is seriously threatened in many parts of CHAL and forest resources are highly fragmented. This project will undertake a broad, multi-disciplinary assessment of the CHAL forest resources, biodiversity analysis and a study of the drivers of deforestation and forest degradation.

• Methodological guidance of the community-based carbon stock assessment inventory.
• Identification of agents, proximate and underlying drivers of deforestation / degradation.
• Establishment and parameterization of baseline emission models in the CHAL.
• Assessment of respective benefits under a future REDD+ project based on emission models.