MEMBERSHIP

Update on partnership initiatives

Future events

Past events

Publications

Learning about the environment in Central Asia

The Regional Environmental Centre for Central Asia (CAREC), a Mountain Partnership member, has recently completed an exemplary project to further environmental awareness and education in the sub-region. The project, “Textbook, posters and video on climate change for secondary schools of Central Asia as example of new educational resources”, supported by the European Commission and the British Council in Kazakhstan, aimed to enhance the level of education about environmental and sustainable development issues in Kazakhstan schools and improve understanding amongst school children and young people of the importance of using natural resources in a rational manner. Activities included the development and testing of a series of educational materials –- a textbook, five posters on climate change, a 20 - minute video and teacher’s guide -- and the organization of training sessions in environmental education for teachers. There are now clear indications that this Kazakhstani experience is being replicated in other countries in the Central Asia region. A pivotal event was the Third Sub-regional Conference on Environmental Education and Education for Sustainable Development (Almaty, Kazakhstan, December 2004), which was organized by CAREC with the support of the British Embassy, UNESCO-Almaty and the European Commission. The CAREC materials and project results were disseminated to participants (teachers and representatives of educational NGOs from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan), who studied the progress being made in eudcating about environmental and sustainable development in Central Asia and defined their future collaboration during the current UN Decade on Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014). For further information, contact Tatiana Shakirova at: tshakirova@carec.kz, or visit the CAREC Web site at: www.carec.kz.
Read more about education in Central Asia at the Web site for the UNESCO Cluster Office for Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan at: www.unesco.kz.

First mountaineering programme in Afghanistan helps revive tourism

Few tourists have ventured to Afghanistan’s magnificent mountain ranges over the last two decades due to persistent war and conflict. Yet, a new era in Afghan mountaineering may be set to begin. In a special ceremony in Kabul on 4 August, 22 mountain guides graduated from a pilot programme designed to begin reviving Afghanistan’s trekking industry. The graduates of the programme -- the first environmentally - friendly mountaineering programme in Afghanistan -- come from various parts of the country (Badakhshan, Bamyan, Nuristan, Kabul and the Panjshir), and included two women and seven former soldiers. Each trainee was taught to assist tourist groups in their mountain climbs or treks, as well as shown how to build capacity with local populations and promote community-based and environmentally - friendly tourism that would help preserve Afghanistan’s natural environment and cultural values. The programme was sponsored by the Afghan National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA) and Mountain Wilderness International (MWI), in cooperation with key partners including the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN). As a next step, the programme will coordinate the development of a framework for sustainable tourism by local, national and international partners. For further information, read the UNEP press release: www.unama-afg.org.
Mountain Partnership member, the International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation (UIAA), is helping to develop training programmes for local guides in the Himalayas, and can contribute model standards for training and assessment that would have international recognition. For further information, visit the Web site of the International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation (UIAA) at: www.uiaa.ch/.

Loss of forests fuels highland malaria in Tanzania

Researchers in Tanzania have attributed the rise of malaria cases in the country's highland regions to increased clearing of forests for agriculture and commercial lumbering. Forest clearing often leaves large depressions, which can easily fill up with rainwater. It also reduces canopy cover, allowing illumination of breeding sites for malaria vectors. Dr Leonard Mboera, a senior scientific officer with Tanzania's National Institute for Medical Research told a conference in Arusha recently: "The ecology of malaria vectors and malaria transmission are profoundly affected by perturbations on the environment, which have favoured the breeding of mosquitoes in the highlands." Dr Mboera said a recent study by Tanzanian researchers has shown that the clearing of vegetation in the East Usambara and Mbulu mountains in northern Tanzania has played a significant role in the increase of malaria transmission. In addition, available data shows that there have also been marked malaria epidemics in Muheza, Hanang, Babati, Mbulu, Ngorongoro, Dodoma, Mpwapwa, Lushoto and Sumbawanga. "In all these districts, the epidemics were experienced in areas with an altitude of over 1,000 metres above sea level” he said. Malaria is still a major public health problem in Tanzania: it is the leading cause of outpatient and inpatient health service attendance and the leading cause of death in both children and adults. Source: Mountain Wilderness Web site.

Linkages between conservation and poverty

The International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) is coordinating the creation of an international "Learning Group" on conservation-poverty linkages. This initiative, supported by the Ford Foundation, is intended to promote mutual learning between (and within) three different communities of interest (conservation, development and human rights, North and South) with a shared concern about the links between conservation and poverty -- through sharing information, exchanging experience and constructive dialogue. An integral part of the Learning Group will be a database of practical experiences in linking conservation and poverty. If you have any examples of projects or initiatives that could be included as case studies in the Learning Group database, contact Dilys Roe at: dilys.roe@iied.org. Visit the International Institute for Environment and Development Web site at: www.iied.org.

Our common mountain heritage

The United Nations Educations, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) encourages nations to identify, protect and preserve the cultural and natural heritage around the world. To date, UNESCO’s World Heritage List includes over 800 properties which the World Heritage Committee considers have outstanding universal value. In July 2005, the Commitee met to revise the international list of World Heritage sites: five of the new inscribed sites are in mountain places and three other mountain sites have also been extended. The newly inscribed mountain sites include: Vredefort Dome (South Africa), Shiretoko (Japan), Geirangerfjord and Nærøyfjord Fjords (Norway) and Dong Phayayen - Khao Yai Forest Complex (Thailand). The extended mountain sites are the Mountain Railways of India, the Valley of Flowers National Park in the Indian Himalaya and the island of St Kilda in the United Kingdom.
Importantly, in the same session the Committee removed a previously threatened World Heritage mountain site from its list of ‘World Heritage in Danger’. The Sangay National Park, situated in the Cordillera Oriental region of the Andes in central Ecuador, is an important protector of many watersheds and its isolation has encouraged the survival of indigenous species such as the mountain tapir and the Andean condor. Yet, Sangay was inscribed on UNESCO’s Danger list in 1992, in response to the construction of the Guamote-Macas road. The construction crossed some of the park, disturbing its ecological balance and causing land use conflicts among local communities. The Committee has decided that wide-ranging improvements in the preservation and maintenance of Sangay National Park are sufficient to withdraw it from the danger list. Visit UNESCO’s World Heritage Web site at: whc.unesco.org or take the World Heritage Tour at: World Heritage List. A full description of Sangay National Park can be read (in Spanish only) at: Ecuador on-line.

Issue 13
August 2005

The Mountain Partnership Newsletter

This is the thirteenth issue of the Mountain Partnership newsletter, ‘Peak to Peak’ an opportunity to keep you up-to-date with the latest news, activities and events related to the Mountain Partnership. This monthly newsletter, prepared by the Mountain Partnership Secretariat, is sent by e-mail to all members and other interested partners and can be read on-line at www.mountainpartnership.org. Help us share news, information and features with members by sending a message to: info@mountainpartnership.org.

Membership

As of August 2005, there are 123 members of the Mountain Partnership: 45 countries, 14 IGOs and 64 major group organizations.

Update on partnership initiatives

Sustainable Livelihoods

Transforming mountain resources into quality products can make a real difference to the well-being, lives and livelihoods of mountain people.This is the rationale behind the Government of France/FAO Mountain Products Project, which is being undertaken under the umbrella of the Sustainable Livelihoods Initiative. For the Andes component of the project, FAO is collaborating with key partners, such as the Intermediate Technology Development Group (ITDG), on an in-depth analysis of the cheese and specialty coffee sub-sectors in northern Peru. This work involves workshops of stakeholders, including Mountain Partnership member World Conservation Union (IUCN), to identify problems along the product supply chains and develop common action plans. The main output of these activities, which take place between July and October 2005, will be the preparation of a project proposal for a 2-year project to support the coffee and cheese quality sub-sectors in Peru. For further information, contact Alexia Baldascini at: alexia.baldascini@fao.org. Visit the Web site of the Intermediate Technology Development Group (ITDG), now re-named ‘Practical Action’, at: www.itdg.org/?id=home.

Hindu Kush Himalaya

The Hindu Kush-Himalayan region is home to the world's highest ecosystems. Its mountain environments store a wealth of plants, animals, and genetic diversity due to its varied altitude, climate and soil. Conserving these precious resources for now and future generations requires regional collaboration in sharing information and drawing up strategies and action plans. This consideration underlies the forthcoming e-consultation, ‘Biodiversity Conservation in the Hindu-Kush Himalaya Region’ (22 August - 2 October, 2005), which is being managed by the Mountain Forum Secretariat (Kathmandu, Nepal) in association with the Mountain Partnership Secretariat and the Asia-Pacific Mountain Network (APMN - the Asia-Pacific regional node of the Mountain Forum). Moderators from the Government of Nepal, the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Conservation Union (IUCN) will steer weekly discussion sessions on four thematic priority areas: income generation and biodiversity, transboundary corridor landscapes, access and rights, and regional cooperation and learning. Although the e-consultation was conceived by members of the Hindu-Kush Himalaya Initiative, most of whom are located in Asia, this activity is open to all Mountain Partnership members in every region. To date, over 100 representatives of countries, intergovernmental organizations and major groups in Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America have signed up to take part in the six-week e-consultation.
Register your participation at the special e-consultation Web site at: www.mtnforum.org/, or contact Prashant Sharma (Global Secretariat of the Mountain Forum) at: mf-mp@mtnforum.org.
Read ‘Hindu Kush-Himalayas in Focus’ at: Hindu Kush-Himalayas in Focus.

Launch of the re-designed Mountain Partnership Web site

The Mountain Partnership Secretariat is currently nearing completion of the redesign of the Mountain Partnership Web site, which will be relaunched in September. Guided by the recommendations of members over the past few months, the site includes refined member databases, improved navigation features and open space areas in which members can exchange information about past, on-going and planned activities within the framework of the Partnership Initiatives.

Future events

World Water Week (Stockholm, Sweden, 21-27 August 2005)

A wide range of water- and development-related issues will be on the agenda at the forthcoming World Water Week, which will feature topical plenary sessions, panel debates, scientific workshops, exhibitions and prize ceremonies for delegates from over 100 countries. One of the highlights of the seven-day event promises to be the informal launch of the report, ‘From the Mountain to the Tap: How Land Use and Water Management can Work for the Rural Poor’. The report summarizes the results of research and undertaken in a 4-year multi-country collaboratative research in Costa Rica, South Africa, Tanzania, Grenada and India -- commissioned by the tropical Forestry Research Programme (FRP) of the UK Department for International Development (DFID) -- which contradicts current tree-planting policies and environmental beliefs. The report asserts that trees, if planted in water-scarce environments, may reduce dry season flows and therefore worsen the living conditions of the poor. The research results point to the need for water managers and policy-makers to base decisions on tree-planting schemes on scientific evidence appropriate for the site. Unless there is urgent action, the looming water crisis will aggravate, and leave the most vulnerable -- the rural and urban poor populations -- ever more disadvantaged. To receive additional information on the report and the research that contributed to it, contact FRP Senior Administrator, Ms. Katelijne Rothschild-van Look at k.rothschild@nrint.co.uk or go to: www.frp.uk.com. For more information about World Water Week visit: www.worldwaterweek.org/.

8th World Wilderness Conference (Anchorage, Alaska, USA, 30 September -6 October 2005)

What are the benefits of wilderness and wildlands to contemporary and traditional societies? Which are the best models for balancing wilderness and wildlands conservation with human needs? These questions underlie the 8th World Wilderness Conference (WWC), whose theme is ‘Wilderness, Wildlands and People -- A Partnership for the Planet’. Initiated by the WILD Foundation in 1977, the World Wilderness Congress (WWC) is now the longest-running, public, international environmental forum and has become a high-profile platform for debating and acting on complex wilderness and wildlands issues. The 8^th Congress is expected to attract more than 1,000 experts from 40 countries and will feature the latest data on climate change in Alaska and around the world (including the impacts on local communities and mitigation efforts), an announcement of new protected areas, and presentations on models for protecting wilderness on native lands by indigenous groups from the United States, Canada, Australia, Asia and Africa.

To find out more, visit the 8th World Wilderness Conference Web site at: www.8wwc.org/index.htm.

2005 World Summit (UN Headquarters, New York, USA, 14-16 September 2005)

A high-level review of worldwide progress towards attaining the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is to be held at United Nations Headquarters next month, just ahead of celebrations for the world body’s 60^th anniversary. It was in September 2000 that world leaders adopted the Millennium Declaration -- a blueprint to build a better and safer world for the next century through collective security and a global partnership for development. The MDGs themselves aim at a series of ambitious targets, ranging from halving extreme poverty, to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education, all by 2015. Go to the Millennium Development Goals Web site at: www.un.org/millenniumgoals/ and view the 2005 Summit documents: www.un.org/ga/59/hl60_plenarymeeting.html.

For more information on future mountain-related events around the world, browse the Mountain Calendar 2005, managed by the Mountain Forum.

Past events

VI Latin American Farming Systems Research and Extension Symposium (IESA-AL VI), (University of Caldas, Manizales, Colombia, 20-22 July, 2005)

Due to its enormous latitudinal range, varied topography and rich biodiversity, Latin America and the Caribbean has one of the most diverse and complex range of farming systems of any region in the world. This fact was re-inforced at the recent VI Latin American Farming Systems Research and Extension Symposium (IESA-AL VI), sponsored by the Consortium for Sustainable Development of the Andean Ecoregion (CONDESAN), the Latin American Centre for Rural Development (RIMISP) and the University of Caldas (Colombia). Some 260 participants from 17 countries engaged in critical debate on the symposium theme ‘Valuing environmental goods and services and their role in poverty reduction’, exploring new approaches in farming systems that would help fight poverty as well as improve market competitiveness, and identifying the most efficient and sustainable means of using natural resources.

In one of the meeting’s highlights, the University of Caldas awarded an honorary doctorate, or "Doctorate Honoris Causa", to Dr. Hubert Zandstra for his contribution to the development of farming systems in Colombia through his thesis work in Caqueza and his training of professionals. Dr. Zandstra is the former Director-General of the International Potato Centre (CIP) and ex-Chairman of the Mountain Forum -- both key members of the Mountain Partnership.The proceedings of the Symposium, including summaries of the presentations delivered, are available in Spanish and in printed format upon request from Dr. Bernardo Rivera, University of Caldas at: brivera@cumanday.ucaldas.edu.co. Read Farming Systems and Poverty - Improving Farmers' Livelihoods In a Changing World (FAO).

International Day of the World’s Indigenous People
(9 August 2005)

The International Day of Indigenous Peoples observed on 9 August every year is an occasion to remember that indigenous peoples often inhabit many of the world’s highest places. Many of the world’s indigenous mountain people live on the fringes of society, in sometimes precarious and impoverished conditions, vulnerable to the impacts of globalization. This instability, aggravated by dispossession from their land and natural resources, threatens the survival of their cultural diversity and heritage for future generations. But how is the international community working with the indigenous communities to improve their lives and livelihood opportunities? Among those issuing statements on 9 August about international cooperation on indigenous issues was Ms. Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, Chairperson of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. The Permanent Forum -- the newest subsidiary body of the Economic and Social Council -- has been working within the UN system, with governments and indigenous peoples to improve the situation of indigenous peoples in the areas of economic and social development, culture, the environment, education, health and human rights. The Forum breaks new ground as it includes eight indigenous experts who advise and report directly to the Economic and Social Council. Among the Permanent Forum’s achievements in its first four years of existence is the mainstreaming of indigenous issues across the UN system and its focus on pursuing major methodological issues such as data collection and disaggregation concerning indigenous peoples, the respect for the free prior and informed consent and the full and meaningful participation of indigenous representatives across relevant programmes.

A key advocate for indigenous issues to the UN and the international community at large is Mountain Partnership member, Tebtebba (Indigenous Peoples' International Centre for Policy Research and Education). This Philippines-based indigenous peoples' organization aims to build indigenous peoples' capacities to do advocacy, education, and campaign work in the national and international arenas, through its programmes such as networking, advocacy and campaigns, research, education and documentation, institution-building and gender. Visit the Tebtebba Web site: www.tebtebba.org/index.htm.

Publications

New Web site for World Mountain People Association (WMPA) (APMM)

Mountain Partnership member, the World Mountain People Association (WMPA) (APMM) has launched a new Web site in English, French, Spanish and Italian.

This on-line resource provides users with an overview of WMPA’s operations in 70 countries and its core aims: to make mountains understood in an international arena and at the level of each country and continent; to organise North-South and South-South exchange and co-operation between mountain territories and populations, in order to share knowledge, means and experiences; and to support and develop the local initiatives of the association’s members and partners. Visitors can download valuable documents including the Charter for World Mountain People (adopted in 2003), which calls on collaborative efforts to develop a real mountain community for the future of all mountain regions of the world. As part of its communication and outreach, WMPA also plans to produce a newsletter in the very near future. Go to the new World Mountain People Association Web site at: www.mountainpeople.org/.

The Mountain Partnership Secretariat wishes to thank the following contributors to this issue: Elena Kreuzberg-Mukhina (CAREC), Ana Maria Ponce (Executive Secretary, Mountain Forum),and Amy Krause (Banff Centre and North American node of the Mountain Forum).