[1][2][3][4] The area is relatively undeveloped, with about a third of the terrain either forested or in 'alpine steppe' shrub or herbaceous cover.

[4] The ecoregion territory is mountainous, at an average elevation of 2,210 metres (7,250 ft).

[3] Much of the cover is scattered tufts of bunch grasses and plants of genus Onobrychis and Acantholimon (prickly thrift).

The forest cover is mostly in gullies, or in the wetter slopes of the northern sections.

Four of them are endemic to the region, and many are of conservation interest as vulnerable or endangered species for which this habitat is important because of the relative isolation and low density of human habitation.