Membership rises

Update on the Cusco Conference

Workshops on Partnership Initiatives

International Mountain Day

FORTHCOMING EVENTS

NEW PUBLICATIONS

Noticeboard – Call for papers on mountain cultural diversity

Research and Management in Mountain Areas

The Interdisciplinary Research and Management in Mountain Areas (IRMM) conference held at the Banff Centre, Canada between 23-27 September was the fourth conference in a five-part series examining topics relevant to mountain communities worldwide. Nearly one hundred delegates explored the best ways of planning, scoping, defining, running, and implementing interdisciplinary projects in mountain areas. Participants came from eight countries and represented disciplines ranging from wildlife biology to anthropology, history to plant ecology. Amy Krause from the Banff Centre reports that the conference proceedings will shortly be produced, and there are discussions underway to create a book from the event. For further information about events at the Banff Centre, visit the Web site.

British climber wins top award

The Mountain Award recognizes outstanding achievements made in any area relating to the mountain regions of the world, and is conferred by the Zurich-based King Albert I Memorial Foundation in honour of the late Belgian King Albert I, who was a passionate climber and alpinist. This year’s Mountain Award has been won by the distinguished mountaineer, Stephen Venables (UK), in recognition of his outstanding literary achievements in evoking the dangers and pleasures of mountain sports, as well as his successful ascent of the Kangshung face of Everest in 1988, without supplementary oxygen. To learn more, visit the Web site of the King Albert I Memorial Foundation.

Saving the Sacred Valley of the Incas

A new association, ‘Saving the Willkamayu’ has been launched under the auspices of the HimalAndes initiative, in order to protect and restore the rivers and watersheds of Peru, and in particular the Willkamayu Basin, regarded by many as the Sacred River of the Incas. Like many of Peru’s rivers, the Willkamayu – one of the greatest tourist attractions in Cusco and the site of many recreational activities and sports – is threatened by consistent contamination and pollution which is putting the health of humans and environments at risk. The ‘Saving the Willkamayu’ Association aims to promote awareness of these challenges and to highlight the role that individuals and local communities can play in helping to restore the river and its valley. For more information, visit the Association’s Web site.

Disasters in the Caribbean

Over recent weeks large parts of the Caribbean have been devastated by a series of hurricanes that have brought torrential rainstorms and floods in their wake. Only a few months since floods killed thousands in the border area between Haiti and the Dominican Republic, Haiti has once again been hit by severe floods unleashed by the tropical storm ‘Jeanne’. It is estimated that more than two thousand people in the Gonaives area may have died in this recent disaster and the situation remains critical for those who have survived, faced with food shortages and the threat of epidemic outbreaks. The island is particularly vulnerable to the damage wrought by heavy rains, given that intense deforestation has stripped the mountainsides bare. During rainstorms water and mud have therefore engulfed the lowlands. To learn more, visit.

Too many deer in Japan’s forests

The number of deer living in the mountain forests of Japan has increased to such an extent that the forests are now becoming endangered by the animals feeding on grass and trees. Indeed, some parts of the forest have been eaten bare; bamboo, grasses and large trees are all disappearing and secondary damage such as soil erosion is now a real danger. Global warming and animal protection are blamed for the increase in the deer population. It may be necessary to lift the ban on hunting in order to keep numbers down. For further information, visit the Web site.

Making spice cultivations viable

Neelkamal Chhetri of Neel Consulting, Kalimpong writes to tell us how farmers in the Sikkim and Darjeeling hills cultivating cardamom and ginger are having trouble making their cash crop enterprises viable. This is not because of lack of a market: there is undeniably considerable demand for these products. The problems are mainly due to the difficulties and high costs involved in securing market access. These farmers – like many others in other mountain regions – need help in identifying marketing policies and strategies. More research needs to be carried out in this area if these industries are to be developed and a reliable income generated for farming communities. To learn more, contact Neelkamal Chhetri.

Issue 5
October 2004

The Mountain Partnership Newsletter

The Mountain Partnership newsletter, ‘Peak to Peak’, is an opportunity to keep you up-to-date with the latest news, activities and events related to the Mountain Partnership. This newsletter is prepared by the Interim Secretariat for the Mountain Partnership and will be sent by e-mail to all members and other interested partners on a monthly basis.

‘Peak to Peak’ has already attracted a positive response and the Interim Secretariat has received contributions and suggestions from Partnership members across the world. Please continue to write to us. We are particularly interested to hear what is happening in your country or organization and look forward to receiving your input at: info@mountainpartnership.org.

Membership rises

Since the last issue of Peak to Peak, two new members have joined the Mountain Partnership. Turkey is the 42nd country member, while the Ancash Association, an NGO promoting sustainable community development in and around a mining area in Peru, has become the 50th major group in the Partnership. To learn more about the Ancash Association, visit the Web site.

Update on the Cusco Conference

The Agenda for the two-day Cusco Conference has been revised and will shortly be sent to members. The meeting will include plenary sessions, working groups on each of the 12 Partnership Initiatives as well as roundtable discussions on a variety of topics: ranging from connectivity in mountain communities, to partnerships for geographic learning, regional cooperation between mountain ranges for sustainable development (including the example of the Alpine-Carpathian Partnership), and debt relief for sustainable development in mountain regions. Readers are reminded that key logistical information on the Conference is available on a dedicated Web site. Available in English, French and Spanish, the Web site has been developed by the Consortium for Sustainable Development of the Andean Ecoregion (CONDESAN). Visit the Cusco Conference Web site.

A total of 37 representatives of members of the Mountain Partnership recently participated in an e-consultation on the draft Cusco Plan of Action, a central framework document to be approved at the Cusco Conference. The e-consultation, commissioned by the organizers of the Cusco Conference, the Peruvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the International Potato Center (CIP), was conducted by the Mountain Forum through its Latin American node (CONDESAN-Infoandina) between 30 August – 17 September 2004. The e-consultation was a highly significant event in collective efforts to shape the Mountain Partnership into a truly participatory and open alliance that responds to the views, interests and priorities of its members at all levels. A summary of the contributions and conclusions of the e-consultation will soon be available in English, French and Spanish on both the Cusco Conference Web site and the Mountain Partnership Web site. These e-consultation proceedings will guide the process of finalizing the Cusco Plan of Action, which will be shared with members prior to the Conference.

Workshops on Partnership Initiatives

As previously reported, the Interim Secretariat for the Mountain Partnership is bringing together members of Partnership Initiatives for a series of meetings and workshops. The outputs of these workshops will be the basis for the drafting of workplans for each Initiative. These workplans will be discussed by all members of a given Initiative and serve as the basis for further collaborative activities.

The Education Initiative workshop took place on 24 September at FAO Headquarters, Rome. Guest participants gave brief presentations of their own work within the sector of mountains and education, and Asylbeck Aidaraliev of Kyrgyzstan described the Kyrgyz proposal for an Education Mountain Network in Central Asia. In a subsequent brainstorming session, the group then worked towards identifying priority action on education and mountains, sharing ideas on key issues and suggestions for concrete activities, all of which will help to guide the discussions at Cusco.

The Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development in Mountains (SARD-M) Initiative workshop will be held in Rome at FAO Headquarters on Wednesday 6 October. This one-day workshop aims to develop a proposal for a series of specific activities related to SARD-M which members will pursue in the immediate future within this Initiative. These selected areas of action will then be shared with all members of the Initiative for their input, and presented at the Cusco Conference.
The workshop will immediately follow a 2-day meeting of the “Adeloboden Group” which is meeting in Rome to discuss the SARD-M Project, a major component of this Mountain Partnership Initiative.

A workshop of the Research Initiative will be held prior to the Cusco Conference, either in Cusco or Lima between 26-27 October. The workshop is being jointly organized by the Centre for Development and Environment (CDE) and the Mountain Research Initiative (MRI), with the aim of drafting a workplan on research, including proposals for priority areas of action and potential linkages between partners, which will be presented at Cusco.

Sharing knowledge through the Mountain Partnership Initiative Database
Work is currently underway in the Interim Secretariat to develop a database on the Partnership Intiatives, in collaboration with the Mountain Forum. This preliminary version of the database will shortly be available on the Mountain Partnership Web site and will provide users with details of members and their activities, along with links to relevant information resources (Web sites, documents, case studies) for each of the twelve Partnership Initiatives. The Partnership Initiative database will be available for demonstration at the Cusco Conference.

Mountain Forum reaches the grassroots through radio
The first episode of the pilot project launched by the Mountain Forum using radio to link people at grassroots level has now been completed and was broadcast on 17 September. The theme for the second episode will be ‘Conflict between local people and commercial tourist service providers in mountains’. These issues are common to many mountain communities worldwide. Any contributions you may wish to make to this episode are welcome. To learn more, visit the Web site.

International Mountain Day

The importance of reducing conflict for mountain development is the focus of this year’s International Mountain Day on 11 December. Conflict may be the single greatest obstacle to achieving sustainable mountain development. Without peace, people cannot take steps to reduce their poverty, to secure food supplies or even consider sustainable development. Mountain regions suffer disproportionally from all effects of conflict because they are often the poorest and least developed places in the world as well as the homelands of indigenous cultures. To promote awareness about the issues surrounding conflict in mountain regions and to mark observance of International Mountain Day, FAO has developed a Web site which will shortly include a series of downloadable information and communication materials in English, French and Spanish. Visit the Web site.

FORTHCOMING EVENTS

International Workshop on Mountain Glaciers and Society, Wengen, Switzerland, 6-8 October 2004

Mountain glaciers are changing and these changes are an important source of information about global climate change. What will be the impact of these changes on society and how will communities respond to them? The ‘Mountain Glaciers and Society’ workshop (6-8 October, Wengen, Switzerland) will examine some of these processes of change and adaptation from an interdisciplinary perspective. The conference is part of the series ‘Wengen Workshops on Global Change Research’. For further information, visit the Web site.

The Fourth National Bamboo Congress, University of Northern Philippines, Vigan City, Ilocos Sur, 10-12 November 2004

Bamboo is not an exclusively mountain product but its most common varieties grow at high altitudes and bamboo artefacts are an important source of income for mountain people. The 4th National Bamboo Congress (10-12 November, University of Northern Philippines, Vigan City, Ilocos Sur) is set to attract scientists, educators, manufacturers, exporters and farmer-growers from throughout the country to discuss trends and innovations in this important mountain product-based industry. To learn more, visit: www.unp.edu.ph/bamboo/index.htm.

Workshop on Remote Sensing for Mountain Areas, Kathmandu, Nepal, 15-19 November 2004

Remote sensing of mountain areas carries enormous potential in helping to survey and manage mountain ecosystems. But there are many technical constraints that need to be overcome before this can become an effective tool in monitoring for sustainable development. The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (OOSA) is holding a workshop on remote sensing for mountain areas (Kathmandu, Nepal, 15-19 November) to explore how remote sensing, satellite communications and global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) can benefit sustainable mountain development projects in future. For further information, visit the OOSA Web site.

NEW PUBLICATIONS

Guidelines for Planning and Managing Mountain Protected Areas (ed. L. Hamilton and L. McMillan, IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas) is a new handbook that provides practitioners in protected mountain areas with practical advice, information and tips on conserving the rich mountain heritage of nature and culture. To learn more, go to the IUCN on-line bookstore.

Lyonia: a Journal of Ecology and Conservation focussing on Mountains and Islands is a new electronic interdisciplinary journal published by the University of Hawaii which is dedicated to the rapid dissemination of current ecological research and its application in conservation, management, sustainable development and environmental education. Subscription to Lyonia is free of charge and articles addressing sustainable development and community issues are welcome. For further information, visit: www.lyonia.org.

Noticeboard – Call for papers on mountain cultural diversity

Mountain Research and Development (MRD) — the renowned international journal that features key development-related research on mountains — is planning an issue on cultural diversity for February 2005. The editors are seeking immediate contributions for the Development Section of this issue, and welcome papers dealing with indigenous land management and issues relating to the diversity of indigenous (and non-indigenous) culture and language. For more information, and to view current and back issues, visit the MRD Web site.