Mountain Partnership

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Mountain Partnership

Welcome to the Mountain Partnership

The Mountain Partnership is a voluntary alliance of partners dedicated to improving the lives of mountain people and protecting mountain environments around the world.

Launched at the World Summit for Sustainable Development in 2002, the Mountain Partnership taps the wealth and diversity of resources, information, knowledge, and expertise of its members to support positive change in mountain areas.

Presently, 48 countries, 15 intergovernmental organizations and 88 major groups (e.g. civil society, NGOs and the private sector) are members.

Why a Partnership for Mountains?

Like the earth’s oceans and rainforests, mountains are crucial to life. Mountains are the source of freshwater for half of humanity.

They are storehouses of genetic diversity that help feed the world. Yet, mountains are under threat from climate change, overexploitation and environmental degradation. Mountain people are among the world’s poorest and hungriest: a disproportionate number of the world’s 840 million chronically undernourished people live in mountain areas. Read about mountain issues.

Mountains high on the global agenda

The Mountain Partnership is not creating a new entity. It builds on the global alliance of individuals and organizations involved in mountain issues that has grown up since the Earth Summit in Rio in 1992. It captures the momentum created during the International Year of Mountains in 2002, when national committees were formed in 78 countries to raise awareness about mountain issues and initiated concrete activities to improve mountain livelihoods and environments. Read about countries.

Making the Mountain Partnership work

The dynamic core of the Mountain Partnership is action and initiatives on the ground. These initiatives are guided by the recommendations of the World Summit for Sustainable Development (2002). They cover specific themes – like policy and law, sustainable livelihoods, watershed management, research, gender, education, sustainable agriculture and rural development in mountains (SARD-M) – and different geographic areas such as the Andes, Central America and the Caribbean, Central Asia, East Africa, Europe and the Hindu Kush Himalaya. Read about Initiatives.

Supporting the Mountain Partnership

mountfalgsThe Mountain Partnership is being supported by a Secretariat, hosted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The Secretariat is acting as a central reference point for networking and liaison for the Mountain Partnership and is collaborating closely with the Mountain Forum to deliver key information and communication services to all Partnership members.

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