Mountain ecosystems are among the most diverse and vulnerable on earth. In the Hindu Kush Himalaya, where the land can rise abruptly from less than 500 meters to more than 8,000 meters, ecosystems often range from subtropical broadleaf forests to alpine meadows in a stretch of only a few hundred kilometres.  

Within a relatively small area can be found wetlands, forests and savannahs, rich with biodiversity but threatened by factors from pollution to climate change to population pressure. Steep hillsides terraced with paddy fields provide a living for mountain farmers who both depend on and shape the region’s agricultural ecosystems. Further up, on the cold and arid steppes that surround the highest peaks on earth, pastoral cultures coax a living from a rangeland ecosystem full of cultural and ecological complexity. 

All of these ecosystems, and the people who rely on them, interact in shifting and varied ways with the dynamics of a globalizing world. 

Relevant Publications

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Digital grid dataset of agriculture area of Nepal. This data is generated using Normalized Difference Vegetation Index(NDVI) and acquired using MODIS data at 16-day time intervals and 250m resolution.

Land cover data of Bhutan for 2010. This dataset is created using the LandSat 30 meter spatial resolution satellite image of 2010.


Science Applications

This interactive application provides land cover statistics for the whole country or a selected district. Change map is generated for each class showing the areas of gain or loss while the conversion to or from other classes can be seen on the chart. The land cover of different years can be viewed using a swipe tool which helps to explore the changes in a an interactive manner.


This application uses district based statistics on various agriculture products such as crops, legumes, fruits and livestock published by Ministry of Agriculture. Likewise, district’s elevation range information shown in the same section have been derived from global Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) 90m Digital Elevation Model dataset.


Videos and Good Practices