International Year of Mountains 2002 Japan

This is the 12th newsletter about events and activities taking place during the International Year of Mountains. It was prepared by the International Year of Mountains Coordination Unit at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations lead agency for coordinating the Year.

Countries continue to support mountains

Since the last newsletter, Cameroon and Nigeria have set up an International Year of Mountains national committee. This brings the total number of countries that have established or are planning to establish national committees or similar mechanisms to 68.

For contact information and news about International Year of Mountains national committees and contact points, visit the country pages in the News section of the International Year of Mountains Web site.

World Food Summit: five years later features mountains

On 13 June, during the World Food Summit: five years later, a special side event on sustainable mountain development was held at FAO's Rome headquarters. Organized by FAO in collaboration with the International Year of Mountains Focus Group, the event attracted about 120 delegates from the United Nations, non-governmental organizations and national governments. Participants heard that ongoing research at FAO suggests that a disproportionately high number of the world's hungriest and chronically malnourished people reside in mountain regions. The International Year of Mountains Focus Group used the occasion to present a declaration affirming its commitment to long-term action in mountains. The Focus Group appealed to other countries to support its declaration. The fifteen countries of the Focus Group are:

Austria

Bhutan

Bolivia

Ethiopia

France

Guatemala

Iceland

Italy

Jamaica

Kyrgyzstan

Lao PDR

Lesotho

Peru

Slovenia

Switzerland

The declaration of the International Year of Mountains Focus Group can be found on the International Year of Mountains Web site at:
www.mountains2002.org/n-declaration.html

Huaraz meeting produces declaration on mountain ecosystems

From 12 to 14 June 2002, about 300 participants from 16 countries attended the Second International Meeting of Mountain Ecosystems: "Peru, country of mountains towards 2020: Water, life and production", in Huaraz, Peru. The event highlighted Peru's mountainous nature and the global importance of tropical mountain regions. The meeting also made progress in preparing the National Agenda of Mountains of Peru and proved a milestone in promoting initiatives and cooperation with the national mountain agendas of other countries in the Andean region and beyond. Representatives from 16 participating countries formulated the Huaraz Declaration on the Sustainable Development of Mountain Ecosystems. The Declaration calls on governments of countries with mountainous regions to take concerted action to support, in particular, sustainable use and management of water resources, promotion of biological and cultural diversity and development of production processes in mountain ecosystems.

The Huaraz Declaration on the Sustainable Development of Mountain Ecosystems can be found on the International Year of Mountains Web site at:
www.mountains2002.org/archive/news/huarezdec.html

To find out more about this conference, visit the Web site at: www.condesan.org/peruAIM2002/
or contact:
Ministra Consejera Maria Cecilia Rozas,
Directora de Medio Ambiente y Desarrollo Sostenible,
Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores del Peru
Lampa 545, Lima 1, Peru
Tel: (+51-1) 3112627
Fax: (+51-1) 3112628
E-mail: mrozas@rree.gob.pe

Conference highlights sustainable agriculture and rural development in mountains

From 16 to 20 June, 200 representatives of mountain people, governments, international organizations and civil society from about 50 countries participated at the International Conference on Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development in Mountains in Adelboden, Switzerland. Organized by the Swiss Federal Office of Agriculture in close cooperation with FAO, the conference was designed to promote mutual understanding, solidarity and information sharing regarding the challenges and possibilities of sustainable agriculture and rural development in mountain regions. At the end of the conference, delegates adopted the Adelboden Declaration on SARD Mountains. The Declaration states that mountain people should have better access to markets and financial services and should receive fair compensation for environmental and other goods and services. It will be presented at the World Summ t on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, August 26 to September 4, and the Bishkek Global Mountain Summit in Kyrgyzstan, October 28 to 1 November.

Information about the conference, including the Adelboden Declaration on SARD Mountains (in English), is available at:
www.sard-m2002.ch/

More mountain events

The declarations produced at June's major global events have helped to solidify national and international support for policies that protect mountain ecosystems and improve the well-being of communities. Other recent events have also made important contributions to our understanding of how sound sustainable mountain development policies should be implemented.These include:

* The 4th International Consultation on Mountain Forests: "Lessons Learned, Societal Changes and Vision Beyond 2002.", (26 - 28 June, Pamplona, Spain), which was organized by the European Observatory for Mountain Forests (EOFM) and the Governments of Spain and France and;
* The Alpine Experience - an approach for other mountain regions (27 June - 3 July, Berchtesgaden, Germany), a conference organized by the International Alpine Protection Commission (CIPRA), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Society for Technical Cooperation (GTZ).

To keep up with the all latest mountain events, consult the International Year of Mountains calendar at:
www.mountains2002.org/events/

Partnership forming to implement long-term action on mountains

A formal proposal for a new international partnership for sustainable development of mountain regions was finalized during the fourth session of Preparatory Committee for the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), held in Bali, Indonesia between 27 May and 7 June.

Both the International Year of Mountains Focus Group Declaration and the Aldeboden Declaration on SARD Mountains explicitly supported the partnership, and several countries have expressed their willingness to join. The partnership will be presented during WSSD in Johannesburg, South Africa, 26 August to 4 September.

The partnership proposal will be posted soon on the International Year of Mountain Web site.

For more information about the partnership, contact the International Year of Mountains Coordination Unit at info@mountains2002.org.

More mountain resources needed

The Panos Institute and the World Conservation Union (IUCN) have both published documents that provide useful overviews and clear examples of the challenges facing mountain peoples and ecosystems.

'High Stakes: the future for mountain societies', published by the Panos Institute looks at many different aspects of mountain development. Quotes from mountain people, taken from the Panos Institute's Oral Testimony Programme's Mountain Voices project, helps put a human face on the issues. To order 'High Stakes: the future for mountain societies' or view the document in pdf or text format, visit the Panos Institute Web site at:
http://www.panos.org.uk/environment/high_stakes_mountain_societies.htm

'Mountain High', the latest issue of the IUCN World Conservation journal contains articles contributed by experts in the field of sustainable mountain development. To order 'Mountain High' or view articles in pdf, visit the IUCN Web site at:
http://www.iucn.org/bookstore/bulletin/mountain-high.htm

Contact Us

For more information, visit the International Year of Mountains Web site at www.mountains2002.org or contact the International Year of Mountains Coordination Unit at FAO at info@mountains2002.org.