To the west the mountains drop steeply towards the Red Sea in a series of escarpments, and descend more gradually to the desert plateaus and basins to the east.

Above 2500 meters elevation, cloud forests, composed of large shrubs and small trees, can be found on wetter north-facing slopes, mostly made up of Juniperus procera and Euryops arabicus, covered with the lichen Usnea articulata.

On the drier south-facing slopes dwarf-shrub forests of Rubus petitianus, Rosa abyssinica, Alchemilla crytantha, Senecio spp., Helichrysum abyssinicum, Aloe sabae, and Euphorbia ssp.

[1] Overharvesting trees for firewood and timber and intensive grazing by domestic and feral cattle, goats, sheep and camels have reduced and degraded the ecoregion's woodlands.

[1] The ecoregion's woodlands been greatly reduced in extent by human activity and livestock grazing.

Possible causes include human disturbance, livestock grazing, climate change, and/or infestation of cones by a Tortricid moth.

[2] Protected areas include portions of Saudi Arabia's Asir National Park and Raydah Natural Reserve.