Halting the loss of mountain biodiversity

The Covid-19 pandemic is a reminder of the consequences of habitat degradation.

The caterpillar fungus was once an abundant resource in the Himalaya. Over-harvesting and exploitation over the decades have pushed it to the brink of extinction. In the past 15 years, its population is estimated to have declined by 30 percent across the region due to over-harvesting . This has prompted the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to put the caterpillar fungus in its red list of vulnerable species. The caterpillar fungus is just one example of how overexploitation is threatening mountain biodiversity. These extraction pressures are compounded by climate change, which is already impacting phenology, interspecies interactions, and causing range shifts, among other changes. Mountain biodiversity has never been under as much pressure as it is now.