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Mountain Partnership
Policy and Law
Members of the Policy and Law initiative
Mountain-specific policies and laws are vital to protect mountain ecosystems and support mountain people. Mountains constitute about one-quarter of the world’s landmass, but few countries have created the enabling environment and developed specific policies to address the needs of these mountain regions and peoples. Governments often apply policies and laws created for lowland areas that do not take into account the fragility of mountain environments nor the singular needs, interests and priorities of mountain people. Furthermore, since many mountain ranges cross or define national borders there are many issues that are transboundary in nature and require cooperation at the regional or global level.
The Policy and Law Initiative will focus on creating the necessary enabling environment for development that is based on sound knowledge and research and includes the full participation of mountain people. The aim is to provide the conditions for the design and implementation of mountain-friendly policies and laws that will support sustainable development in mountain areas.
In 2004 Rome-based leading members of the Policy and Law Initiative, along with other key resource people, met for the first time at a workshop in Rome to identify key issues and actions for the Initiative. The results of the workshop were shared with all members of the Initiative and further refined during the breakaway session dedicated to the issue at the Second Global Meeting of the Mountain Partnership, or Cusco Conference (Peru, 28-29 October).
Next steps include: preparing a project that includes the organization of workshops and training courses (open to Mountain Partnership members interested in the Policy and Law Initiative), identifying the concerns and specific priorities of various geographical areas, via a questionnaire, gathering information on policies and legislation in favour of existing mountain areas at the global level, and finalizing the proposal for the above project and fundraising for its implementation.
FAO Publication. ‘Mountains and the Law - emerging trends’ (2007)
Mountain law is still in its infancy. Most countries have not yet adopted mountain-specific laws, preferring to focus on the protection and development of mountains through existing sectoral legislation. However, a few countries such as Algeria, Bulgaria, France, Georgia, Italy, Kyrgyzstan, Romania, Russian Federation (Republic of North Ossetia-Alania), Switzerland and Ukraine, have already enacted legal instruments dealing specifically with mountains, and other countries, such as Romania, are in the process of developing similar legislation. These converging efforts seem to signal an emerging trend towards a progressive increase in mountain law-making in years to come. This updated version of 'Mountains and the Law - emerging trends', first published by FAO to coincide with the International Year of Mountains in 2002, looks at the steady development of mountain legislation. The first part broadly describes the main elements of mountain-specific legal texts, first in the international sphere, then at the domestic level. The second part contains six short case studies from countries where legislation on mountains has been passed or proposed.
