In 2022, when the final waves of COVID-19 seemed to be receding, I decided to serve my penchant for the Himalayas through an entrepreneurship fellowship dedicated to the region, called the Naropa Fellowship. During the one year tenure, I learnt and worked towards solving for several ecological, economic and social problems that were unique to this terrain. However, one specific issue of forest fires caught my attention at a deeper level, which later turned into a longer term venture. The Himalayan forests were natively lush with deciduous and evergreen trees, including conifers such as pine. The human population inhabiting these forests were low, and resources to support the community's needs were abundant. After the early 19th century, the area saw massive exploitation for commercial purposes. The British salvaged oak, sal and deodar trees for timber, leading to substantial loss of the original cover. To show replenishment of the tree count, fast-growing exotic species such as eucalyptus, pine and Japanese cedar were planted. Today, the pine forest cover stands at 76,200 sq km in the entire Himalayan region and has an estimated habitat loss of 86.65%. The overall impact on the ecology and well-being of local communities cannot be measured. Additionally, the decrease in opportunities and population increase has also caused rapid urban migration of youth.