Rivers, forests, wildlife and the people who live beside them.
Elisha GhimireEnvironmental conservationist. Senior Program Officer, Greenhood Nepal.
From intern to principal investigator.
I work on freshwater fish, wildlife and the trade in wild species across Nepal, mostly alongside the communities who live closest to them.
- PI
- Golden mahseer conservation in the Karnali, funded by the Fonseca Species Conservation Fund and Re:Wild.
- 2026
- Deputy Coordinator, Human Wildlife Conflict Management Technical Taskforce, Ministry of Agriculture, Forests and Environment.
- 3rd
- Best Poster Award, Conservation Asia Congress 2026.
Deputy Coordinator, Human Wildlife Conflict Management Technical Taskforce
Ministry of Agriculture, Forests and Environment, Government of Nepal. I help coordinate the national technical work on reducing conflict between people and wildlife.
The tiger of the river.
Golden mahseer, Tor putitora
A migratory fish that needs long, connected rivers. I lead Saving the Mighty Golden Mahseers in the Karnali, looking at river health, fishing pressure and whether the law protects the fish in practice.
Rhinos next door.
Greater one-horned rhinoceros, Rhinoceros unicornis
Nepal's rhinos live close to farms and villages in the lowlands. My rhino research looks at how they are protected and how nearby communities take part, including a study of community-based anti-poaching units for USAID Jal Jangal.
Stopping nature crime.
Medicinal orchids, Dendrobium and allies
Wild orchids are collected and traded illegally from Nepal's forests. I researched the trade and its sustainable use for DEFRA's IWT Challenge Fund, trained enforcement officials with IFAW, and ran community dialogues on nature crime with GI-TOC.
Promises made. Promises kept?
My research compares what Nepal's hydropower projects promised in their Environmental Impact Assessments with what happened on the ground.
Field photographs from Paudel, Ghimire & Phelps (2025), Environmental Management.
The pending promises of mitigation measures in Environmental Impact Assessments
Across the hydropower EIAs we studied, biological measures were the least likely to be carried out, while socio-economic promises were mostly kept.
Paudel, K., Ghimire, E. & Phelps, J. A typology and evaluation of Nepal's hydropower projects.
Read the paper
Why Nepal's hydropower must become a true clean energy source
“EIA is pictured as a cornerstone of sustainable development, a means to balance human ambition with environmental stewardship.”Read the essay
Working with the people who share the land.
I run participatory mapping, youth training and community dialogues, and study local anti-poaching units. The families who live beside the forest and the river are part of every project.
Mapping the landscape with community members.
Delivered, on the ground.
- 2026-now
Human Wildlife Conflict Management Technical Taskforce
Deputy Coordinator. Ministry of Agriculture, Forests and Environment, Nepal.
- 2025-now
Saving the Mighty Golden Mahseers, Karnali River
Principal Investigator. Fonseca Species Conservation Fund, Re:Wild.
- 2025
CARE training for enforcement officials
Consultant, International Fund for Animal Welfare.
- 2024
Community-based anti-poaching units
Functionality and institutionalization study. USAID Biodiversity / Jal Jangal.
- 2024
Building community resilience against nature crimes
Local dialogue. Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime.
- 2024
Freshwater research and hydropower assessments
Environment Consultant. Resources Lab.
- 2022-23
Illegal trade and sustainable use of medicinal orchids
Research Associate. DEFRA-UK IWT Challenge Fund.
- 2021
Governing Nepal's water through EIAs
Research Assistant. British Council.
Let's plan the next wildlife conservation research in Nepal.
I'm open to research partnerships, grants and species conservation planning. I'm trained by IUCN CPSG to facilitate species planning workshops.
ghimireelisha555@gmail.comWork supported by
- Re:wildGolden mahseer project
- Fonseca Species Conservation FundGEF and Re:wild. Golden mahseer project
- IFAWEnforcement training, 2025
- USAID BiodiversityAnti-poaching unit study, 2024
- IWT Challenge Fund, DEFRA UKMedicinal orchid trade, 2022-23
- GI-TOCNature crime dialogues, 2024
- British CouncilEIA governance research, 2021
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