Sony Baral holds a Ph.D. in Green Economy focusing in the value of sustainable management of forest resources in the realization of the green economy from an ecological and economic perspective; and Masters in Mountain Forestry from the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Austria. At present, she is affiliated with the School of Forestry and Natural Resource Management, Institute of Forestry, Tribhuvan University, Kritipur, Nepal.
She works as an independent researcher and has been leading several research projects being engaging in various aspects of forest management, wetland management, disaster risk reduction, urban and city planning, and climate change-related issues. She has extensive research and development experience in Nepal and beyond. She has been working closely with the Government of Nepal to formulate and revise the forest, climate change, and hazard assessment related policy, strategy, guidelines and acts. She has broadened her areas on policy formulation and revision, change management, social and biophysical research, large dataset management, strategic planning, impact assessment, economic assessment, program and project designs. She has published more than two dozen articles in peer-reviewed national and international scientific journals; along with several technical reports. In addition, she is an editor and reviewer of several international journals like Forests, The Forestry Policy and Economics, Forestry Journal.
She has almost two decades of working experience in forestry and forest policies in national (government and non-government) and international organizations like Tribhuvan University, ANSAB, IUCN, UNDP, CECI, and UN Women, etc. She has led various projects like Nature Conservation National Strategic Framework for Sustainable Development (2015-2030), Forest and Farm Facility Programme funded by FAO-Rome, Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment Project funded by ADB, Policy and Institutional Framework funded by BIOFIN/ UNDP,and several assignments and consulting work. Sony is also the founding member of ‘The Resource Nepal’ a non-governmental organization, advisor of Relief Nepal, board member of ANSAB Nepal, and general member of SIAS. She is the Non-Residential (NRN) Nepali Women n Coordinator and Secretary of NRN -Austria. She was also a former member of the City Planning Commission, Pokhara Municipality. She represents Nepal as a focal person on Regional Circular Ecological Sphere (R-CES) collaboration, Japan.
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
- Charmakar, S., Kunwar, R. M., Sharma, H. P., Rimal, B., Baral, S., Joshi, N., … & Oli, B. N. (2021). Production, distribution, use and trade of Valeriana jatamansi Jones in Nepal. Global Ecology and Conservation, e01792.
- Baral,, Gauli, K., Kunwar, R M., Turi, M. A., Bussmann, R.W., and Paniagua-Zambrana, N.Y., (2021). Prinsepia utilis Royle Rosaceae. Ethnobotany of the Himalayas. 10.1007/978-3-030-45597-2_197-2
- Kunwar, R.M., Adhikari, Y.P., Sharma, H.P., Rimal, B., Devkota, H.P., Charmakar, S., Acharya, R.P., Baral, K., Ansari, A.S., Bhattarai, R., Thapa, S., Paudel H.R., Baral, S., Sapkota, P., Uprety, Y., Boa C.L. and Jentsch, A., (2020). Distribution, use, trade and conservation of Paris polyphylla in Nepal. Global Ecology and Conservation, p.e01081.
- Basnyat, B., Baral, S., Tiwari, K. R., Shrestha, G. K., Adhikari, B., & Dahal, Y. N. (2020). Covid-19 Outbreak, Timber Production, and Livelihoods in Nepal. Tribhuvan University Journal, 15-32.
- Baral, S., Neumann, M., Basnyat, B., Gauli, K., Gautam, S., Bhandari, S. K., & Vacik, H. (2020). Form Factors of an Economically Valuable Sal Tree (Shorea robusta) of Nepal. Forests, 11(7), 754 https://doi.org/10.3390/f11070754.
- Baral, S., Basnyat, B., Gauli, K., Paudel, A., Upadhyaya, R., Timilsana, Y. P., & Vacik, H. (2019). Factors Affecting Fuelwood Consumption and CO2 Emissions: An Example from a Community-Managed Forest of Nepal. Energies, 12(23), 4492. https://doi.org/10.3390/en12234492
- Baral, S., Khadka, C & Vacik, H. (2019). Using MCA Tools for Evaluating Community Managed Forests from a Green Economy Perspective: Lessons from Nepal Submitted to “International Journal of Sustainable Development and World Ecology”. DOI: 1080/13504509.2019.1652858
- Baral, S., Gaire, P. N., Aryal S., Pandey M., Rayamajhi S., Vacik H. (2019). Growth Ring Measurements of Shorea robusta Reveal Responses to Climatic Variation. Forests, (10), 466. doi:10.3390/f10060466
- Baral, S., Chhetri, B. B. K., Baral, H., & Vacik, H. (2019). Investments in different taxonomies of goods: What should Nepal’s community forest user groups prioritize? Forest Policy and Economics,100, 24-32.
- Baral, S., & Vacik, H. (2018). What Governs Tree Harvesting in Community Forestry—Regulatory Instruments or Forest Bureaucrats’ Discretion? Forests,9(10), 649.
- Baral, S, Gautam, A.P and Harald Vacik, H. “Ecological and economical sustainability assessment of community forest management in Nepal: A reality check.” Journal of Sustainable Forestry(2018): 1-22.
- Baral, S., Vacik H., Chettri B.B K., & Gauli, K. (2018). The pertinent role of forest inventory in making choice of silvicultural operations in community forests of Nepal. Banko Janakari, Special Issue No. 4, 2018
