MESSAGE BY AHMED DJOGHLAF EXECUTIVE SECRETARY OF THE CONVENTION ON BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY on the occasion of INTERNATIONAL MOUNTAIN DAY “MOUNTAINS AND FORESTS”

11 December 2011 - MESSAGE BY AHMED DJOGHLAF
EXECUTIVE SECRETARY OF THE CONVENTION ON
BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY on the occasion of
INTERNATIONAL MOUNTAIN DAY “MOUNTAINS AND FORESTS”

http://www.cbd.int/doc/speech/2011/sp-2011-12-11-mountain-day-en.pdf

John Ruskin, the famous English art critic of the Victorian era, once said: ―Mountains are the beginning and the end of all natural scenery. For 22 per cent of the world’s population living in both mountain and lowland mountain ecosystems, mountains are the source of livelihoods. Against this background, and 2011 being the International Year of Forests, the theme of this year’s International Mountain Day— ―Mountains and Forests —is timely and significant.

Mountain forests capture and store rainfall, maintain water quality, regulate river flow, and reduce erosion and downstream sedimentation. They also provide many environmental services, including protection against natural hazards and landscapes for tourism and recreation, and absorption of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. Healthy mountain forests are crucial to the ecological health of the world. However, globally, mountain forests are one of the world’s most threatened ecosystems. Protecting these forests and making sure they are carefully managed is an important step towards sustainable mountain development.

Mountain regions are amongst the most sensitive to climate change. Melting glaciers, the shifting of natural habitats, and the retreat and disappearance of species are stark reminders of the vulnerability of mountains ecosystems to rising temperature and changes in precipitation levels.

Achieving environmental and human sustainability in mountains means finding ways to manage mountain resources and systems so that they can provide critical ecosystem services, even in the face of climate change. Options for climate-change adaptation in mountain ecosystems include, inter alia, mountain watershed management, establishment of both horizontal and vertical connectivity migration corridors, rehabilitation of degraded forest ecosystems, avoiding deforestation, and reducing human pressure on biodiversity. The programme of work on mountain biological diversity under the Convention on Biological Diversity provides for such adaptation options. At its tenth meeting, of the Conference of Parties to the Convention, in decision X/30 on mountain biological diversity, called for measures to reduce deforestation and restore degraded mountain forest ecosystems to enhance the role of mountains in providing important ecosystem services.

There are win-win opportunities in this arena to not only protect mountain ecosystems and the biodiversity they harbour – but to use these more proactively and wisely to contribute significantly to meeting multiple human development challenges in the face of a rapidly changing world. Our actions in support of mountain ecosystems will be a contribution to the overall achievement of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, and the building of a future of life in harmony with nature. Let us celebrate the International Mountain Day 2011 in a befitting manner to raise awareness about the relevance of mountain forests and the role they play in climate-change adaptation measures and for achieving sustainable mountain development.

THE CONVENTION ON BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY on the occasion of INTERNATIONAL MOUNTAIN DAY “MOUNTAINS AND

www.cbd.int

Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity United Nations Environment Programme 413 Saint-Jacques Street, Suite 800, Montreal, QC, H2Y 1N9, Canada Tel : +1 514 288 2220, Fax : +1 514 288 6588 secretariat@cbd.int www.cbd.int

December 11 - International Mountain Day,

11 december is International Mountain Day

New Publication on Mountains

 
Why Invest in Mountain Sustainable Development ?

FAO Publication

Why Invest in Mountain Sustainable  Development ?

"Mountains cover approximately one-quarter of the world’s surface and are home to 12 percent of the human population. By providing freshwater and other key environmental services to more than half of humanity, mountain ecosystems play a crucial role in the development of the planet and contribute significantly to the well-being of human societies. This booklet summarizes state-of-the-art information on the characteristics of and threats to mountain ecosystems, the environmental services they provide and the impacts of climate change; it explains approaches to sustainable mountain development, including natural resource management, economic opportunities, and mountain policies and governance; and it describes the way forward and provides recommendations for addressing sustainable mountain development at the global and local levels. The booklet is addressed primarily to those policy- and decisionmakers who are responsible for finding a balance between socioeconomic development and environmental conservation thrusts. It shows that sustainable mountain development plays a fundamental role in addressing current global challenges, and therefore requires and deserves a prominent place on the international agenda". 

Brochures 2011

العربية     中文   English   Français   Español   Русский

International Mountain Day 2011

International Mountain Day is an opportunity to create awareness about the importance of mountains to life, to highlight the opportunities and constraints in mountain development and to build partnerships that will bring positive change to the world’s mountains and highlands. 

The United Nations General Assembly has designated 11 December, from 2003 onwards, as “International Mountain Day”. This decision results from the success of the UN International Year of Mountains in 2002, which increased global awareness of the importance of mountains, stimulated the establishment of national committees in 78 countries and strengthened alliances through promoting the creation of the International Partnership for Sustainable Development in Mountain Regions, known as the 'Mountain Partnership (WSSD, Johannesburg, 2 September 2002). FAO was the designated lead coordinating agency for International Year of Mountains and is mandated to lead observance of International Mountain Day. 

This year’s International Mountain Day theme will focus on Mountains and Forests. It aims to raise awareness about the relevance of mountain forests and the role they play within a Green Economy as well as in climate change adaptation measures. 

Healthy mountain forests are crucial to the ecological health of the world. They protect watersheds that supply freshwater to more than half the world’s people. They also are the home of untold wildlife, provide food and fodder for mountain people and are important sources of timber and non-wood products. Yet in many parts of the world mountain forests are under threat as never before and deforestation in tropical mountain forests continues at an astounding rate. Protecting these forests and making sure they are carefully managed is an important step towards sustainable mountain development. 

By linking this year’s International Mountain Day to the International Year of Forests 2011, we can benefit from the international existing attention and focus on the theme as well as twinning certain communication activities and products to produce a more effective awareness raising exercise.