Road Accessibility, Population Proximity and Temperature Increase are Major Drivers of Forest Cover Change in the Hindu Kush Himalayan Region

The Hindu Kush Himalayan (HKH) region has been identified as one of the most important landscapes that needs to be preserved towards a global sustainable ecological balance. The HKH region holding around 210 million population is subjected to forest cover changes of various magnitudes on different spatial and temporal scales. Apart from the natural factors, including climate, extensive deforestation, logging, lopping, heavy grazing, over-harvesting, land conversion, etc. are the major activities triggered by poverty, over population; and lack of awareness, that are all leading to forest depletion in this region. In Asia, the most important driver of deforestation has been subsistence agriculture, followed by commercial agriculture, urbanization, infrastructure and mining activities.