WHAT ARE MONTANE FORESTS? • Montane ecosystems refers to any ecosystem found in mountains. These ecosystems are strongly affected by climate, which gets colder as elevation increases. • Dense forests are common at moderate elevations. However, as the elevation increases, the climate becomes harsher • They're found on all continents with the exception of the Antarctic • They grow beyond an altitude of 500 meters. The trees have adapted to the cool climate, heavy downpours and intense sunshine WHY ARE THEY NECESSARY? • Mountain forests make up a third of all natural forest cover worldwide. • The most important function is in storing water and preventing erosion. • Mountain forests also play an important role in the regional climate. Tropical mountain forests in particular give back the collected heavy downpours in the form of water sources in the surroundings • Mountain forests are home to a unique collection of plant and animal species • A fewer plant and animal species in montane forests compared to lowland rainforests because montane regions have adverse climate, a lack of shelter and food shortages. WILDLIFE IN THE • They include very strongly specialized species that are not found in low-lying areas. The FORESTS craggy landscape and different temperature zones also lead to different animal and plant habitats. Some of these are very small THE DANGER THEY FACE • Mountain forests are threatened by climate change but also by human use. • People increasingly use the forests to graze cattle, collect firewood as well as for tea and coffee plantations. • Mountain forests are particularly endangered in eastern Africa - in Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Malawi and Uganda, in Himalayan regions such as Nepal, India and Pakistan, in the Caucasus in Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan, and in Laos and Cambodia in Southeast Asia. • Governments of various countries have been working on large scale reform projects to aid the situation. • Though changes are visible , the implementation of such wide scale procedures require long term CAN WE DO planning and major awareness even in the under privileged section of the society. SOMETHING? • Some initiatives such as the AFRI-SKY-FOR in Africa & the Tanzanian government’s “Eastern Arc Mountains Conservation Endowment Fund" (EAMCEF) are examples.