Much of climate change policy treats indigenous peoples (if at all) as hapless victims rather than active participants in all components of climate change research, adaptation, mitigation and policy. Most Tibetans are cognizant of recent, rapid Himalayan climate change including rising temperatures, increasing and unpredictable precipitation, glacial retreat, glacial lake formation and outburst, and altering natural resources. Integrating scientific research with Indigenous knowledge leads to innovative perspectives and solutions. Our 1500 km (900 mile) transect across the eastern Himalaya, with intensive, long-term ecological alpine plant monitoring shows rapidly increasing plant richness, biodiversity and endemism, especially at higher elevations. Traditional ecological knowledge and economic policy often prescribe rival adaptations for Himalayan peoples; traditional culture and economics become competing paradigms by which to analyse the impacts of and adaptations to Himalayan climate change. We have even documented the appropriation and monetisation of successful Indigenous adaptations by government and economic entities to the detriment of the same Indigenous people who developed the strategies.