The Hindu Kush Himalayas stretch over 3,500 km across eight countries in South and Central Asia. Recently, 130 global experts declared this vital biosphere on the brink of collapse, urging urgent conservation actions.

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• Hindu Kush Himalayas span Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Nepal, Myanmar, and Pakistan.
• The mountain system forms the western section of the Hindu Kush Himalayan Region (HKH) and is geologically part of Central Asia’s Pamir Mountains.
• Highest peak is Tirich Mir at 7,708 meters in Chitral, Pakistan.
• The range divides into eastern, central, and western Hindu Kush (Bābā Mountains).
• Region has deserts in inner valleys and is a global biodiversity hotspot with rich flora and fauna.
• Over 240 million people live in the region; 1.7 billion depend on its river basins, and food from these basins feeds 3 billion people.
• Glaciers here sustain 10 major river systems crucial for agriculture, drinking water, and hydroelectricity.
• The region is highly seismic, with active intermediate-depth earthquake zones.
• Climate varies from monsoon rains and snow in summers to dry winters, with Mediterranean-type climate in parts.
• Experts at an IPBES meeting in Kathmandu (Feb 2024) highlighted urgent risks to biodiversity and called for financial and policy action.
• Hindu Kush Himalayas host four of the world’s 36 biodiversity hotspots, 575 protected areas, and 335 important bird areas.
• ICIMOD’s Deputy Director General warned it may be “almost too late” to reverse ecological decline.
• The declaration calls for prioritizing investment to preserve this critical mountain ecosystem.