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dc.contributor.authorMåren, Inger Elisabeth
dc.contributor.authorSharma, Lila Nath
dc.date.accessioned2019-06-21T13:15:43Z
dc.date.available2019-06-21T13:15:43Z
dc.date.issued2018-08-04
dc.PublishedMåren IE, Sharma LN. Managing biodiversity: Impacts of Legal Protection in Mountain Forests of the Himalayas. Forests. 2018;9(8):476eng
dc.identifier.issn1999-4907en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1956/20345
dc.description.abstractLegal protection has been used as means of conserving forests and associated biodiversity in many regions of the world since the eighteenth century. However, most forests in the global south, even those within protected areas, are influenced by human activities. Himalayan forests harbour much of the biodiversity of the region, maintain subsistence livelihoods, and provide regional and global ecosystem services like water regulation, flood control, and carbon sequestration. Yet few studies have quantitatively studied the impacts of legal protection on forest health and biodiversity. We assess woody biodiversity and forest health in relation to legal protection and biomass extraction in forests inside and outside Langtang National Park in Nepal (n = 180). We found more woody species in protected forests. Of the 69 woody species recorded, 47% occurred at both sites. Within protected forests, we found differences in forest health largely related to the intensity of biomass extraction expressed as walking distance to settlement. The closer the forest was to settlements, the heavier degradation it suffered, showing that within agro-forestry systems in the Himalayas, the resource-consumer distance is typically determining the intensity of biomass extraction. Our research brings forth the need to better address the drivers of resource extraction from protected areas in order to mitigate this degradation. It also brings forth the need to contribute to the development of appropriate participatory management programmes outside areas of formal protection in order to sustain both biodiversity and ecosystem service delivery from these forests for the future.en_US
dc.language.isoengeng
dc.publisherMDPIen_US
dc.rightsAttribution CC BYeng
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0eng
dc.subjectagroecological systemseng
dc.subjectbiomass harvestingeng
dc.subjectconservationeng
dc.subjectecosystem serviceseng
dc.subjectforest healtheng
dc.subjectLangtang National Parkeng
dc.subjectSpecies richnesseng
dc.titleManaging biodiversity: Impacts of Legal Protection in Mountain Forests of the Himalayasen_US
dc.typePeer reviewed
dc.typeJournal article
dc.date.updated2019-01-24T11:59:38Z
dc.description.versionpublishedVersionen_US
dc.rights.holderCopyright 2018 The Author(s)en_US
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.3390/f9080476
dc.identifier.cristin1646499
dc.source.journalForests
dc.relation.projectNorges forskningsråd: 190153/V10


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