​Tropical montane cloud forests (TMCFs) are high on the list of the world's most threatened ecosystems. In order to achieve the conservation of remaining areas there is an urgent need for information on the location, extent, protection status, biological importance, socio-economic conditions and current threats on a site by site basis. This report describes a first phase of work on the development of a global database and draft directory of TMCFs. Interim results and conclusions are provided from a global overview of the information gathered to date.