Great Himachal National Park, India Photograph by Raman Mehta   Southern Asia: Northern regions of India and Pakistan into Nepal Temperate Broadleaf and Mixed Forests   21,600 square miles (55,900 square kilometers) -- about half the size of Louisiana Critical/Endangered

· The Tourist’s Ecoregion
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
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The Tourist’s Ecoregion

Pilgrims have been traveling to the Himalayas for centuries because of its remarkable scenery and solitude. In recent decades, European and American travelers have also come here on treks that lead them into and around the majestic forests and mountains. While tourism can help bring positive attention, their presence is also causing problems (see Cause for Concern).

Special Features

This ecoregion, in the middle Himalayas, hosts two types of broadleaf forests: evergreen and deciduous. While most oaks are deciduous trees, oaks in this ecoregion dominate the evergreen forests, and the understory is thick with mosses and ferns. Maples, Nepal alders, and common walnuts dominate the deciduous forests. These forests, scattered over a range of altitudes, provide habitat for the many species of birds that migrate from lowlands to alpine meadows and other high-elevation habitats.

	When forests are cleared on these steep slopes, soil quickly washes away. That soil, which is so important in this ecoregion, becomes a huge problem thousands of miles away. There, in river deltas and their mangrove forests, the extra soil clogs waterways, chokes plants, and degrades the habitat of many aquatic animals.

Wild Side

More than 300 species of birds live in this ecoregion, ranging from warblers to pheasants. Seven species of birds are found here and almost nowhere else in the world: the white-cheeked tit, white-throated tit, spectacled finch, Kashmir flycatcher, Tyler’s leaf-warbler, orange bullfinch, and Kashmir nuthatch. Two kinds of bats join the birds in the air. One of these flying mammals, whose scientific name is Myotis longipes, lives nowhere else in the world. More than 70 other species of mammals live here too, including the Asiatic black bear, leopard, a type of goat called Himalayan tahr, wild dog, and the goatlike southern serow.

Cause for Concern

Only one-third of this ecoregion remains intact, even though 20 protected areas exist here. Most of these are small. Logging and clearing for agriculture threaten the forests in the lower elevations. Higher elevation habitat is grazed, and the forests are cut for fuel. In addition, people from around the world flock here as pilgrims or tourists. Their presence has spurred ill-planned roads, trails, and hotels.

For more information on this ecoregion, go to the World Wildlife Fund Scientific Report.