TRANSMIT: Transboundary approaches to sustainable forest management for enhancing climate resilience and reducing disaster risk in the Himalaya

Project Description

Mountain forests in the Himalayas play a critical role in providing ecosystem services (ESS). These ecosystems are facing increasing pressures from climate change and unsustainable management practices, resulting in hazardous processes including forest fires, landslides, and floods. In the Western Himalayas, in particular, there is a lack of comprehensive understanding of the dynamics and drivers of forest degradation and ESS loss, along with the interactions between social and ecological systems.

The intended impact of TRANSMIT is to increase the resilience of mountain forests and their communities in the Western Himalayas in the face of climate change and human activities. The TRANSMIT project will leverage cutting-edge technologies where beneficial and appropriate, particularly focusing on the latest Earth Observation techniques and artificial intelligence in its research, while also strongly engaging local stakeholders to co-generate knowledge for informing participatory processes of sustainable forest and forest fire management.

Adopting a transboundary and system-oriented approach that addresses the interconnected and interdependent components of ecological, social and economic systems, the project actively involves stakeholders at various levels. Being relevant for mountain forest areas in the Western Himalayas, TRANSMIT tests and carries out its transdisciplinary work in the transboundary Mahakali/Sharda River basin between Nepal and India. By engaging academics as well as practitioners, TRANSMIT aims to foster a dynamic exchange of knowledge that will bridge the science-implementation gap. Communities will gain direct benefits from hands-on trainings and the implementation of forest related disaster risk reduction and adaptation interventions, ensuring the transferability of the project’s outputs and results.

In addition, TRANSMIT will support and facilitate the establishment of a Regional Fire Management Resource Center and will promote higher education and academic exchange between Germany, Nepal and India. The project's transdisciplinary approach, with strong engagement from all partners and from stakeholders across scales, will support long-term sustainable forest and fire management beyond the project's lifetime.

Expected Results

• Baseline evidence for the Mahakali/Sharda basin: data on forest conditions, disaster events and impacts (with a focus on forest fire), climate change patterns (including elevation-dependent warming), and ecosystem services.
• Future pathways for forest management: projections of climate and land-use impacts, community vulnerability assessment, and future ecosystem service provision—feeding into policy recommendations.
• Co-designed adaptation options: participatory development and implementation of measures that also address social inequalities, including the needs of marginalized and vulnerable groups.
• Capacity building: training for stakeholders and contributions to higher education and academic exchange.