Yak herders from Bhutan, India and Nepal will launch the first Himalayan Yak Herders’ Network on 23 October 2026 at Bhutan's ninth Royal Highland Festival.
The network aims to strengthen cross-border cooperation, knowledge sharing and collective advocacy to protect traditional yak-herding livelihoods.
Shrinking pastures, climate change, declining yak populations, wildlife attacks and migration of young people are threatening highland communities.
Rangelands cover more than 60% of the Hindu Kush Himalaya and support an estimated 25–30 million Indigenous and culturally diverse people, according to the organisers.
Yak herders from Bhutan, India and Nepal are coming together to establish the first regional network dedicated to Himalayan yak-herding communities, creating a platform for cross-border cooperation to address challenges threatening their livelihoods and traditional pastoral systems.
The Himalayan Yak Herders’ Network will be launched on October 23, 2026 at Bhutan's ninth Royal Highland Festival, as communities grapple with shrinking pastures, declining yak populations, climate change and the migration of young people from highland areas.
The network will facilitate collective advocacy, knowledge exchange, capacity building and cooperation among herders, according to the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), an intergovernmental organisation.
The launch follows nearly a decade of collaboration among herders, governments, researchers and development partners.
The network will bring together three national organisations — the Yak Federation of India, the Bhutan Yak Federation and the Yak and Chauri Farmers Federation Nepal. It will be led by yak herders, with Bhutan hosting its secretariat.
The idea of a regional network first emerged in 2016, when herders, researchers and government representatives from Bhutan, India and Nepal came together through ICIMOD's Kangchenjunga Landscape Conservation and Development Initiative.
Regional cooperation is particularly important because rangelands cover more than 60% of the Hindu Kush Himalaya and provide livelihoods and subsistence resources for an estimated 25–30 million Indigenous and culturally diverse people, according to the network's organisers.
Yak-herding communities face growing pressures from rangeland degradation, loss of yak genetic diversity, attacks on livestock by wild animals and limited access to markets and essential services. These challenges are compounded by climate change and the migration of younger generations away from highland areas.
According to ICIMOD, yak populations across Bhutan, India and Nepal have declined significantly in recent decades, partly because of changing land-use patterns and rangeland degradation.
In India, the 20th Livestock Census, published in 2019, recorded approximately 58,000 yaks.
In 2026, the Yak Federation of India reported that 526 household members associated with the federation collectively reared approximately 32,000 yaks.