In few places on Earth does nature sustain so many people as in the Eastern Himalayas.
Spanning the mountains and watersheds of Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh and parts of northeast India, this area contains the highest peaks on Earth. Its glaciers are often referred to as the "third pole" — the largest reservoir of fresh water outside Greenland and Antarctica.
The rivers born here — the mighty Brahmaputra, the Ganges and their lesser-known but equally vital tributaries — are arteries of civilization, sustaining over a billion people. As these waterways flow south to the Indian Ocean, they pass through alpine tundra, mountain forests, open plains and coastal mangroves — habitats for snow leopards, red pandas, Bengal tigers, Asian elephants and the elusive one-horned rhino.
Each of these diverse ecosystems is connected by the flow of water. Changes in one, especially those upstream, have cascading effects on the others. And massive change is sweeping through the Eastern Himalayas, with far-reaching consequences for people and nature.
🌎 Spanning Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh, and parts of northeast India, there are few places on Earth where nature sustains as many people as the #EasternHimalayas. But these countries are among the most climate vulnerable. Conservation International is working alongside partners in the region to support one of the largest reforestation and conservation projects in the history of South Asia. #MountainsToMangroves seeks to protect and restore nature across the Eastern Himalayas. Over the last year, Conservation International and local partners have rapidly scaled community efforts to restore lost ecosystems and promote sustainable livelihoods. This is just the beginning. Learn more 👇 https://www.conservation.org/projects/mountains-to-mangroves
THREATS
The Eastern Himalayas are one of the world’s fastest-warming places due to climate change. As glaciers recede and monsoon seasons shift, rivers are becoming erratic, with some drying up and others facing more frequent and severe floods. Bangladesh, Nepal and India all rank among the most climate vulnerable countries globally, with 60 percent of Bangladesh’s population and 80 percent of India’s living in high climate exposure areas. In 2022, a staggering 1.5 million people in the region were displaced by extreme weather events.
Since 2000, the Eastern Himalayan region has lost nearly one-tenth of its forest cover, leading to soil erosion, poor water quality and frequent landslides — causing loss of life and property and further degrading the land and water.
CONSERVING 1 MILLION HECTARES OF FOREST
Mountains to Mangroves is one of the largest reforestation and conservation projects in the history of South Asia, created as an urgent response to climate change and nature loss. Led by experienced environmental and social organizations in the region and supported by Conservation International, this initiative seeks to protect and restore 1 million hectares of forest spread across some of the most rugged, mountainous countries on Earth.
By 2030, this joint initiative will:
The boundaries shown on this map does not imply endorsement or acceptance by Conservation International. Biodiversity data: Vertebrate Biodiversity Range Size Rarity, 2021. Conservation International in collaboration with IUCN and BirdLife International. Population density data: www.worldpop.org - School of Geography and Environmental Science, University of Southampton; Department of Geography and Geosciences, University of Louisville; Departement de Geographie, Universite de Namur, and Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN), Columbia University (2018). Global High Resolution Population Denominators Project. Funded by The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
SUPPORTING ONE BILLION LIVELIHOODS
Following the announcement of the initiative in 2023, Conservation International and partners have rapidly scaled the work of communities across the region to restore lost ecosystems and promote sustainable livelihoods – including agroforestry, conservation training and careers, and more — using proven local methods. In this first phase, partners will protect and restore nearly 60,000 hectares of forests and mangroves from the valleys of Bhutan to the floodplains of Bangladesh — improving well-being for ecosystems, people and wildlife in the region.
Supported by Conservation International’s Moore Center for Science, Mountains to Mangroves is a pioneering science initiative: By monitoring changes in forest health, biodiversity, livelihoods and local climate, scientists will track the impact of restoration efforts over time — helping partners better protect nature and the communities that rely on it.
ATREE (Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment): ATREE is a nonprofit organization that generates interdisciplinary knowledge to inform conservation policy and practice. ATREE have begun vital work with Mountains to Mangroves to conserve land under threat and restore degraded land, focusing initially in the Sikkim, Kalimpong and Darjeeling districts of West Bengal, India.
Bhutan Ecological Society: Bhutan Ecological Society is a nonprofit organization that connects science, business and policy, with the goal of building and sustaining resilient communities and functional landscapes. Bhutan Ecological Society has been restoring land across Bhutan, establishing state-of-the-art nurseries to produce upwards of 1 million saplings per year to scale this work in the future.
Bhutan Trust for Environmental Conservation: The Bhutan Trust Fund for Environmental Conservation (BTF) is the world’s first environmental trust fund, established in 1991 as a collaborative venture between Royal Government of Bhutan, United Nations Development Program, and WWF. BTF plants native tree saplings in degraded forest areas, including primary forest and private land. They have also worked on a plantation program with schools and are establishing nurseries to accelerate restoration.
Friendship: Friendship is an international social purpose organization guided by a vision of a world where people — especially the hard-to-reach and unaddressed — have equal opportunities to live with dignity and hope. Friendship have been planting mangrove forests in the Sundarbans, Bangladesh, while enhancing the livelihoods of nearby communities who will support the forests for years to come.
TERI (The Energy and Resources Institute): TERI is an independent, multi-dimensional organization, with capabilities in research, policy, consultancy and implementation. As part of Mountains to Mangroves, TERI will promote agroforestry plantation, regenerative agricultural practices, and forest conservation activities, beginning in Assam and Nagaland. This effort will also be registered with Voluntary Carbon Markets so that the carbon benefits can be shared with the community and ensure their sustainability.
While the world understands the urgent plight of the Amazon and Congo Basin, the Eastern Himalayas — one of the most climate-vulnerable regions on Earth — often goes overlooked. Mountains to Mangroves aims to change that by raising global awareness of its ecological importance and working with communities in India, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Nepal to conserve the nature they depend on to thrive.
Richard Jeo, senior vice president of Conservation International-Asia Pacific
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