Dr Ambika P. Gautam obtained his PhD in Natural Resources Management (NRM) from the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Thailand. He has over 30 years of experience in developing, managing, and implementing NRM programs and teaching NRM and Forestry courses in reputed universities in south and south-east Asia. Prior to joining KAFCOL as a professor, he worked for the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) as the Program Manager and Country Representative for Afghanistan, and a faculty member in AIT, Thailand. He also taught graduate NRM courses in some universities in Nepal, Thailand and Indonesia as a visiting faculty. Recently he served as a Lead Author in regional (Asia-Pacific) as well as global assessment of biodiversity and ecosystem services for the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES); a Technical Reviewer for the 2016 IUCN World Conservation Congress. Earlier, he led a team of experts in the development of Nepal’s National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan 2014-2020. Dr. Gautam has more than 30 refereed international publications, and has been serving as advisor or external examiner of doctoral and Master’s theses for Nepalese and foreign universities. Since 2004, he is acting as a peer reviewer for around 25 international scientific journals published by reputed international publishers, including Elsevier, Springer, and Taylor & Francis. He is a member of several NRM- related international professional organizations and networks, including the IUCN CEESP, and International Association for the Study of Commons (IASC).