On the cold, wet and foggy slopes of the Andes mountains in South America, a unique but fragile ecosystem illustrates the interconnection between the three most urgent global environmental crises we face today: biodiversity loss, climate change and land degradation. Known as páramos (alpine tundras), these high mountain ecosystems are found at altitudes higher than 3,000 metres, above the high Andean forest line, but below the permanent snow line. Characterized by cold and humid weather and a typical Andean vegetation of frailejones (‘big m...