Protecting fragile mountaintop ecosystems is a crucial component of the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (1). Mountaintops are among the ecosystems most vulnerable to climate change (2–4). Global warming could lead to the extinction of about 10% of eukaryotic species on Earth by 2100 (5). Mountaintop ecosystems preserve vast amounts of biodiversity that lives in extreme environmental conditions, provide food and water for human well-being, and are important for global carbon storage (6). Thus, they have irreplaceable economic and ecological values in the biodiversity, stability, and sustainability of global and local ecosystems. The protection of mountaintop ecosystems needs a targeted conservation framework.