Bhutan, India and Nepal will formally launch the Himalayan Yak Herders’ Network on 23 October 2026 during the 9th Royal Highland Festival in Laya, Gasa. Bhutan will host the network’s secretariat, establishing the first regional platform dedicated exclusively to yak-herding communities across the Himalayas.
The herder-led, herder-owned network brings together the Bhutan Yak Federation (formalised in 2022), the Yak and Chauri Farmers Federation Nepal (2023), and the Yak Federation of India (2025). Inspired by the Arctic’s World Reindeer Herders Association, it will focus on collective advocacy, knowledge exchange, capacity building and cross-border cooperation. Facilitated by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), the initiative follows nearly a decade of collaboration that began in 2016 under the Kangchenjunga Landscape Conservation and Development Initiative.
Yak populations have declined sharply across the region due to changing land use, rangeland degradation, climate pressures and socio-economic shifts. In Bhutan, the national yak population fell by about 28 percent between 2020 and 2024. According to the National Statistics Bureau (2024), 746 households rear 29,432 yaks—roughly 39 animals per household—contributing about 4 percent of the country’s livestock products. Nepal reported 53,195 yaks, naks and chauri kept by 9,899 farmers in 2021–22, while India’s 2019 Livestock Census recorded approximately 58,000 yaks.
Rangelands cover more than 60 percent of the Hindu Kush Himalaya and support an estimated 25–30 million people. Yaks sustain the livelihoods, cultural heritage and food security of more than 31 ethnic groups across over 10 countries, providing roughly half of pastoral income in many highland areas. Yet herders face shrinking pastures, loss of genetic diversity, wildlife depredation, limited market access and the migration of young people away from traditional livelihoods.
Tashi Dorji, Senior Livestock and Rangeland Specialist at ICIMOD, has identified declining youth interest as the central challenge. “The difficulty lies in sustaining herding as an attractive and viable way of life,” he said, noting that it reflects changing aspirations, limited economic opportunities and institutional barriers. Cordyceps collection has further diverted attention, though its long-term reliability remains uncertain.
The launch coincides with the UN International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists 2026 and the festival’s theme, “Rangelands for Life: Empowering Herders.” Laya is preparing to host more than 5,000 visitors for the 23–24 October event, which His Majesty the King of Bhutan and the Prime Minister are expected to attend. Organisers see the network as a platform that could incubate over 50 highland enterprises and create more than 500 green jobs targeted at youth, while giving herders a stronger collective voice in national, regional and global policy processes. By hosting the secretariat, Bhutan further positions itself as a hub for nature-based mountain livelihoods.
