The world has lost more than 356,000 square kilometers of vegetated mountain forest landscapes over the past two decades — an area larger than Germany — according to a new global study published in Nature Communications in November 2025. The research reveals that this decline, equivalent to 1.9 percent of the world’s total mountain vegetation in 2000, poses a serious threat to biodiversity and ecosystem stability.
The study, titled “Global loss of mountain vegetated landscapes and its impact on biodiversity conservation,” was conducted by an international team of scientists who used high-resolution Landsat satellite imagery to map vegetation changes across the world’s mountain regions from 2000 to 2020.
“About 57 percent of the lost vegetation consisted of forests, followed by 25 percent grasslands and 18 percent shrublands,” Chao Yang, the authors from Shenzhen University wrote. Mountain forests, they noted, are among the most biologically rich and environmentally sensitive ecosystems on the planet, supporting countless endemic species and regulating global water and carbon cycles.
The researchers found that human activities accounted for nearly 89 percent of the total loss, while natural events such as wildfires, droughts, floods, and landslides contributed only about 11 percent.
Agricultural expansion emerged as the dominant cause, responsible for roughly 83 percent of all vegetation loss. Urban growth and mining also played significant roles, particularly in developing countries where mountain regions are being converted into farmland or settlements.
“The pressure on mountain ecosystems is increasing at an alarming rate, especially in regions that serve as critical water sources and biodiversity hotspots,” said Chao, as quoted in the report.
Mountain Forest in Danger
The study highlights that mountain forest loss is not evenly distributed. More than 90 percent of the global loss occurred in seven major regions: East Asia, North America, the Middle East, Europe and Russia, Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia.
In terms of proportion, the Middle East recorded the highest rate of loss, with around 6.2 percent of its mountain vegetation disappearing between 2000 and 2020. Sub-Saharan Africa followed with a 3.2 percent decline. Although Asia accounts for a smaller share of total loss, Southeast Asia — including Indonesia — contributed about 10.5 percent of the global figure, highlighting the region’s growing vulnerability.
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“The rate and extent of vegetation loss in tropical mountains are especially concerning,” the study noted. “These ecosystems store vast amounts of carbon and host some of the world’s most unique plant and animal species.”
One of the most striking findings is that more than half (56 percent) of all lost mountain vegetation occurred within areas that are legally protected or designated as biodiversity priority zones. About 12.6 percent of the loss happened inside officially protected areas, while 43 percent occurred in regions with high concentrations of threatened mountain species.
“This indicates that legal protection alone is insufficient without effective management and enforcement,” the researchers warned. They emphasized the need for stronger conservation governance and local community participation to prevent further degradation.
Call for Stronger Policies and Monitoring
The study urges policymakers to strengthen land-use regulations in mountain regions and to balance agricultural development with ecological protection. The authors recommend implementing satellite-based monitoring systems to track vegetation changes in real time, enhancing law enforcement in protected areas, and expanding conservation networks to include high-biodiversity mountain zones that remain unprotected.
They also proposed land-sparing strategies, where agricultural production is concentrated in already-developed areas while ecologically important mountain regions are preserved.
“Mountains are the planet’s last strongholds of biodiversity,” Chao concluded. “If the current rate of vegetation loss continues, the consequences will extend far beyond mountain ecosystems — affecting global climate stability, freshwater supplies, and the resilience of life itself.”
The findings align with global biodiversity targets under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, which aims to halt and reverse nature loss by 2030. As the researchers note, the next decade will determine whether the world’s mountain forests remain living reservoirs of biodiversity — or become another casualty of human expansion. (Wage Erlangga)
