It contains montane and cloud forests, reaching up to the high-level Cordillera de Merida páramo high moor ecoregion.

Their lower levels are threatened by migrant farmers, who clear patches of forest to grow crops, then move on.

This is a northeastern branch of the Andes that is separated from Colombia's Cordillera Oriental by the Táchira depression on the Venezuela–Colombia border.

The ecoregion also includes the forests of the isolated Tamá Massif, which lies between the Colombian Andes and the Táchira depression.

They are mainly composed of quartzite schist, gneiss and limestone, with isolated intrusions of granite and diabase.

The evergreen transition forests are dense, with two or three layers, with most trees of the families Lauraceae, Moraceae, Myrtaceae, Bignoniaceae, Euphorbiaceae and Araliaceae.

Common species are Retrophyllum rospigliosii, Prumnopitys montana, Podocarpus oleifolius, Alnus jorullensis, Oreopanax moritzii, Brunellia integrifolia, Hedyosmum glabratum, Weinmannia jahnii, Weinmannia microphylla, Tetrorchidium rubrivenium, Beilschemieda sulcata, Ruagea glabra and Ruagea pubescens.

Common montane forest endemic plants are Podocarpus pedulifolius, Oreopanax veillonii, Psychotria aristeguiateae, Lagenanthus princeps, Delostoma integrifolium, as well as bromeliad, fern and orchid species.

The wood sprite gracile opossum (Gracilinanus dryas) and Luis Manuel's tailless bat (Anoura luismanueli) are found in both the Andean Cordillera and the Tamá Massif.

[1] Endangered mammals include Geoffroy's spider monkey (Ateles geoffroyi) and Musso's fish-eating rat (Neusticomys mussoi).

Endemic birds include amethyst-throated sunangel (Heliangelus amethysticollis), grey-capped hemispingus (Hemispingus reyi), white-fronted whitestart (Myioborus albifrons), grey-naped antpitta (Grallaria griseonucha), rose-crowned parakeet (Pyrrhura rhodocephala) and Mérida flowerpiercer (Diglossa gloriosa).

[1] Endangered amphibians include Aromobates alboguttatus, A. duranti, A. haydeeae, A. leopardalis, A. mayorgai, A. meridensis, A. molinarii, A. nocturnus, A. orostoma, A. saltuensis, A. serranus, Atelopus carbonerensis, A. chrysocorallus, A. mucubajiensis, A. oxyrhynchus, A. pinangoi, A. sorianoi, Dendropsophus meridensis, Gastrotheca ovifera, Hyalinobatrachium pallidum, Mannophryne collaris, M. cordilleriana, M. yustizi, Pristimantis ginesi, P. lancinii and P.

Requests, so far refused, have been made for permits to mine for zinc, cooper, lead and silver in the Bailadores–Guaraque region, including the General Pablo Peñalosa National Park.

Some of the parks are threatened by sheer numbers of tourists, and by fires and proposed construction of roads and pipelines.