Mountain Partnership

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Key Documents

Mountain Partnership

Bali Document (2002)
The Bali 'concept' document is the formal proposal for a new international partnership for sustainable development of mountain regions, which was finalized during the fourth session of the Preparatory Committee for the World Summit on Sustainable Development (Bali, Indonesia, 27 May - 7 June 2002).

Mountain Forum E-consultation on the Mountain Partnership (2003)
This Report to the Committee on Sustainable Development – CSD (24 April -5 May 2000) highlights that mountain ecosystems contain an integrated complex of natural resources that are closely linked in space and time. Those who inhabit the mountains generally depend directly on many of these resources for their livelihoods and tend to utilize and manage them through a combination of land-use practices such as agriculture, forestry and livestock production.

Guiding Principles (2003)
The Guiding Principles paper discusses the aims, structure, functions, governance and membership criteria of the Mountain Partnership. It was approved and endorsed by members at their first global meeting (Merano, Italy, 5-6 October 2003).

Merano Conclusions (2003)
The Conclusions are a set of guidelines to steer future membership, governance and action of the Mountain Partnership. The Conclusions also welcomed the offer of the Government of Peru to host the next meeting of the members of the Mountain Partnership in Cusco in 2004. This document was produced and approved by Partnership members at the close of their first global meeting (Merano, Italy, 5-6 October 2003).

Mountain Partnership Organization, Membership and Governance
The structure, membership and governance and criteria of the Mountain Partnership are defined in the ‘Governance Paper’. This document was developed through a consultative process with the founding members of the Mountain Partnership and formally adopted by members at the Plenary session during the Second Global Meeting of the Mountain Partnership, or Cusco Conference (Cusco, Peru, 28-29 October 2004).

Cusco Framework for Action (2004)
The Cusco Framework for Action will also now serve as a central document to steer the future action of the Mountain Partnership. The framework document was drafted by the Government of Peru in June 2004 and circulated amongst the Partnership before being fully discussed by members during a three-week electronic consultation conducted by the Mountain Forum (30 August-17 September). At the Cusco Conference (Cusco, Peru, October 2004), the Framework for Action was finalized in an open-ended drafting committee and then finally adopted in the Plenary as the 'Cusco Framework for Action'.

Declaration of the Andes (2004)
This political document, prepared initially by the Government of Peru and adapted by Mountain Partnership members at the Cusco Conference (Cusco, Peru, October 2004) recognizes the increasing awareness of the importance of mountains to life, the growing alliance of commitment and will towards sustainable mountain development at all levels since Rio Earth Summit (1992) when Chapter 13 of Agenda 21 -- the blueprint for sustainable mountain development -- was adopted. The Declaration re-affirms the common vision and collective commitment of partners to improve mountain lives and environments, and concludes with a call for members to develop initiatives and implement the Cusco Framework for Action.

E-consultation on Biodiversity Conservation in the Hindu-Kush Himalaya (2005)
Organized and managed by the Mountain Forum Secretariat, in association with the Mountain Partnership Secretariat and the Asia-Pacific Mountain Network (APMN), the e-consultation attracted participation from members of the Hindu Kush-Himalaya Initiative of the Mountain Partnership, along with invited guests, with the aim of producing a working document for policy advocacy, as well as an agreement on enhanced regional cooperation and the sharing of knowledge and information.

E-consultation on the Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development in Mountains (SARD-M) Initiative (2005)
Organized by the Mountain Forum Secretariat, this two-week e-consultation generated an exchange of ideas, views and experiences from participants in Africa, Latin America, the Hindu-Kush Himalayan Asia, South East Asia, Europe and ex-Soviet states such as the Russian Federation, and marked a definitive step in moving this Partnership Initiative forward.

E-consultation on 'Mountain to Mountain Cooperation: Sustainable Use of Biodiversity, including Genetic Resources in the Andes and Himalaya’ (2006)
This e-consultation generated an exchange of ideas, experiences and lessons learnt in the management of two critical mountain regions of the world, and aimed to help strengthen existing alliances to conserve and manage biodiversity now and in the future. The e-consultation was managed by the Mountain Forum Secretariat, in association with the Mountain Partnership Secretariat, the Himal-Andes Initiative, the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), the Asia-Pacific Mountain Network (the Asia-Pacific regional node of the Mountain Forum) and InfoAndina (the Latin American regional node of the Mountain Forum).

The Mountain Partnership: Activities and Achievements (2006)
This report was prepared by the Mountain Partnership Secretariat at the request of the UN General Assembly and presented to the 14th session of the Commission on Sustainable Development – CSD-14 (UN Headquarters, New York, 1-12 May, 2006). It provides an overview of progress made by the Mountain Partnership since its launch in 2002, discusses some of the key challenges facing the Partnership and provides lessons learned and proposals on how to strengthen its impact and effectiveness.

Mountains on the Global Agenda



Agenda 21/Chapter 13 (1992)
Agenda 21 is a 40-chapter statement of goals and potential programmes produced by delegates at the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development, known as the Earth Summit, in Rio de Janeiro. By devoting Chapter 13 to mountains, Summit participants placed mountains on an equal footing with climate change, desertification and other issues of global importance.

Integrated planning and management of land resources: Sustainable mountain development
This Report to the Committee on Sustainable Development - CSD (24 April -5 May 2000) highlights that mountain ecosystems contain an integrated complex of natural resources that are closely linked in space and time. Those who inhabit the mountains generally depend directly on many of these resources for their livelihoods and tend to utilize and manage them through a combination of land-use practices such as agriculture, forestry and livestock production.

World Summit on Sustainable Development (Johannesburg, South Africa, 26 August-4 September 2002)
The World Summit on Sustainable Development concluded its work on 4 September 2002 by adopting a political declaration (the " Johannesburg Declaration on Sustainable Development "), as well as a Plan of Implementation (the " Johannesburg Plan of Implementation "), in which to carry out the activities and measures required to achieve development that respects the environment. Specific actions to be taken for the preservation and sustainable development of mountain regions is laid out in paragraph 42, section IV of this document, entitled ‘Protecting and managing the natural resource base of economic and social development ’. 

United Nations General Assembly (53rd session) proclaims year 2002 as International Year of Mountains (1998)
November 1998. The General Assembly this morning proclaimed the Year 2002 as the International Year of Mountains, by adopting without a vote, a draft resolution recommended by the Economic and Social Council. Read the press release .

Concept Paper on the International Year of Mountains (2000)
This concept paper, prepared by FAO, presents a guide for International Year of Mountains preparation and implementation. It provides general guidelines and a framework for all institutions and individuals involved in mountain-related issues and in International Year of Mountains preparations.

Interim report on the International Year of Mountains (2002)
The report describes progress made at the national, regional and international levels midway through 2002, with emphasis on activities that will ensure that the International Year of Mountains, 2002, is a catalyst for long-term, effective action. It also addresses the challenges that lie beyond the Year and provides suggestions for consideration by the General Assembly on how the Assembly might continue to promote and effectively implement sustainable development in mountain regions.

Bishkek Mountain Platform (2002)
The Bishkek Mountain Platform is an outcome of the Bishkek Global Mountain Summit, the culminating global event of the International Year of Mountains 2002. The Platform aims to provide a framework for stakeholders and others to contribute to sustainable development in the world's mountain regions and enable them to act together at all levels from local to global to improve the livelihoods of mountain people, protect mountain ecosystems and use mountain resources more wisely.

Communication materials for the International Year of Mountains (2002)
The International Year of Mountains was a communications event, a unique opportunity to draw the world's attention to mountains, share information, educate people and stimulate long-term action. As lead agency for the International Year of Mountains, FAO helped to mobilize action by producing, promoting and distributing a wide range of promotional and information materials throughout the Year. Its intensive global media relations programme built awareness of the Year's key messages through newspapers, magazines, radio and TV, while its outreach programme helped NGOs, civil society and grass-roots organizations around the world communicate about mountain issues to their members and audiences.

UN General Assembly Report - International Year of Mountains, 2002
July 2003. This report prepared by FAO for the UN General Assembly highlights some of the Year's achievements and provides suggestions on how countries might continue to promote and effectively implement sustainable development in mountain regions around the world.

UN General Assembly Resolution on International Year of Mountains (2002)
The UN General Assembly passes a Resolution acknowledging the achievements of the International Year of Mountains, and designated 11 December as International Mountain Day.

UN General Assembly Resolution on Sustainable Development in Mountain Regions (2003)
This Resolution underlines the key challenges to implementing sustainable development and eradicating poverty in mountain regions, acknowledges the Mountain Partnership as a cooperation mechanism to address these challenges and invites the international community and other relevant partners to consider joining the Partnership.

Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) – adopted Work Programme on Mountain Biological Diversity (2004)
The work programme on mountain biodiversity of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) adopted by the Conference of the Parties to the Convention On Biological Diversity (CBD-COP 7, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, February, 2004) aims to establish ‘regional and transboundary collaboration and the establishment of cooperative agreements’. It also recommends strengthening collaboration with the Mountain Partnership and regional conventions on mountains.

UN General Assembly Report - Sustainable Mountain Development, 2005
November 2005. The report prepared by FAO for the 60th session of the UN General Assembly describes the status of sustainable mountain development at the national, regional and international levels, including an overall analysis of the challenges that lie ahead, and provides suggestions for consideration by the Assembly as to how to continue to promote and effectively sustain development in mountain regions around the world within the existing policy context, including chapter 13 of Agenda 21, the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation and the Millennium Development Goals.

UN General Assembly Resolution – Sustainable Mountain Development, 2005
December 2005. This resolution (A/RES/60/60/198) on sustainable mountain development calls for concerted efforts by governments, the UN system, international financial mechanisms and all relevant partners from civil society and the private sector to consider providing support to local, national and international programmes and projects for sustainable development in mountain regions. It underlines, inter alia, the importance of constructive new approaches to transboundary cooperation and coordination such as the Alpine Convention and the Carpathian Convention. The text goes on to recognize the substantial cooperation already fostered between the Mountain Partnership and these mountain-related regional agreements and calls on the international community to join the Mountain Partnership.

International Mountain Partnerships
For the European Alps, the Alpine Convention and its protocols are the most significant basis for their preservation and international collaboration. As a member of the Mountain Partnership, the Alpine Convention is sharing information and exchanging its experiences of regional and inter-regional cooperation within Europe and beyond. This brochure, ‘International Mountain Partnerships’, was prepared by the Secretariat to the Alpine Convention and provides an overview of the existing collaborative activities of the Convention’s member countries with the Carpathians, Caucasus and Central Asia (Tian Shan, Pamir).

Sustainable development: sustainable mountain development
The Second Committee held a substantive debate on agenda item 54 (see A/62/419, para. 2). Action on sub-item (h) was taken at the 21st and 32nd meetings, on 5 November and 7 December 2007. An account of the Committee’s consideration of the sub-item is contained in the relevant summary records (A/C.2/62/SR.21 and 32).... Rapporteur: Ms. Tamar Tchitanava (Georgia) top