An ecoregion of outstanding diversity with Gondwanan relicts and elements of the Indo-Malayan, Indo-Chinese, Sino-Himalayan, and East Asiatic regions. It extends as a narrow band of temperate broadleaf forest, between 2,000 and 3,000 m in the eastern Himalaya, from the Kali Gandaki River gorge in Nepal through Bhutan into Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland. It has temperate evergreen forests, a hotspot for rhododendrons and oaks, besides magnolia and cinnamon. Temperate deciduous forest dominated by maple, walnut, alder, and birch also occur. In mature evergreen forests, the trees are covered with a rich growth of mosses, ferns, and other epiphytes. It also has high animal diversity in invertebrates, reptiles, birds, and mammals.