MEMBERSHIP

Update on Partnership Initiatives

Future events

Past events

Publications

All-weather road links north and south of Kyrgyz Republic

Within the next few months, a project to unite the northern and southern halves of Kyrgyz Republic with an all-weather highway traversing two mighty mountain passes will be completed. Mountain Partnership member, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has financed the upgrading of most of the 650 km road between the capital of Bishkek in the north and Osh, the largest city of the south. The former camel trail winds through icy mountains that used to be inaccessible during the winter. ADB, which is promoting regional cooperation in Central Asia, has also financed the rehabilitation of the road from Almaty in Kazakhstan to Bishkek and now plans to upgrade a large section of the road from Osh to People's Republic of China . Read more and view the photo essay of the landscapes and people of the highway on the ADB Web site at: Asian Development Bank.

Baby Mountain Gorillas Named in Rwanda

Rwanda held a traditional naming ceremony for some of its rare mountain gorillas in August in an effort to attract tourism and help to preserve one of the world's most endangered species. It is estimated that only about 700 mountain gorillas are left in the world: half live in the lush volcanic mountains straddling the borders of Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda -- an area riddled by war. Rwandan President Paul Kagame and his wife led the naming ceremony, usually reserved for newborn children in Rwandan culture, on the the edge of the Virunga park.The pair couple named two twin baby gorillas Byishimo (Happiness) and Imano (Gift). "The increase in the number of gorillas is attributable to the peace and security prevailing in Rwanda," Kagame said. The region's gorilla population rose to 380 at last year's count from 324 in 1989. During Rwanda 's 1994 genocide, when some 800,000 people were slaughtered, many of the gorillas fled. Impoverished Rwanda is banking on tourism for foreign revenues. After the naming ceremony, the Rwanda Parks and Tourism board launched a fund-raising campaign to raise cash for projects to help conserve the gorillas, including a scheme for tourists to "adopt" them for a fee. (Source : Arthur Asiimwe, REUTERS NEWS SERVICE).

Treaty offers world's last chance to save great apes

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.

Treaty offers world's last chance to save great apes

Numbers of gorilla, chimpanzee, bonobo and orangutan have fallen so sharply that experts warn that some wild populations could disappear within a generation. The Intergovernmental Meeting on Great Apes and first Council Meeting of the Great Apes Survival Project (GRASP) (Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, 5-9 September 2005) focused on the e long-term survival of viable wild populations of great apes and the conservation of their habitat. At the close of the meeting more than 20 countries signed the Kinshasa Declaration which aims to save the world's great apes from extinction . The Declaration -- already likened in significance to other environmental treaties such as the 1982 whaling moratorium and the 1997 Kyoto protocol on climate change -- acknowledges that the root cause of poaching and deforestation is poverty, and pledges to support local communities in conservation efforts. The Great Apes Survival Project (GRASP) was launched in May 2001 under the auspices of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The UN body hopes the agreement will help stamp out poaching for bushmeat, animal trafficking and deforestation, which has destroyed the creatures' habitats. Scientists at the conference identified more than 100 sites, most of them in Africa, where viable great ape populations could be saved from extinction by implementing intensive conservation programmes. Visit the Great Apes Survival Project (GRASP) Web site at: Woods Hole Research Center.

New mountain research network launched

The Mountain Research Institute Initiative (MRI), a Mountain Partnership member, has announced the recent establishment of the Mountain Invasion Research Network (MIREN). Set up in Vienna, Austria in July this year, MIREN will use mountains as model study systems for research into the mechanisms of plant invasions, particularly under the conditions of global (climatic) change. Its research activities will contribute to the implementation of the GLOCHAMORE Research Strategy in Mountain Biosphere Reserves and other protected areas. MIREN is currently hosted by the Institute of Geobotany (Zurich, Switzerland) and includes members from six different mountain regions (Australia, Chile, the Canary Islands-Spain, Hawaii-USA, the Pacific Northwest of the USA and Switzerland). For more information, contact Christoph Küffer (MIREN Project Coordinator) at: miren@env.ethz.ch or visit the MIREN Web site at: www.miren.ethz.ch.

Mountain forests of Indonesian Borneo in peril

Plans to create the world's largest palm oil plantation in Kalimantan along Indonesia 's mountainous border with Malaysia could have a devastating impact on the forests, wildlife, and indigenous people of Borneo, warns WWF-International. The proposed scheme, funded by China, is expected to cover an area of 1.8 million hectares (equivalent to about half the size of the Netherlands).  Most of this mountainous region, part of the ‘Heart of Borneo', still holds huge tracts of forests, the home of threatened species and the source of 14 out of the island's 20 major rivers. WWF-International stresses that infertile soil and steep areas, such as those in the Heart of Borneo, prevent the development of oil palm plantations. As Dr Mubariq Ahmad, Chief Executive Director of WWF-Indonesia states: "Such a project could have long-lasting, damaging, consequences for the people who depend on the area and its massive water resources, which feed the whole island." Read the full story here.

Saving a watershed in Mexico

Plans to create the world's largest palm oil plantation in Kalimantan along Indonesia 's mountainous border with Malaysia could have a devastating impact on the forests, wildlife, and indigenous people of Borneo, warns WWF-International. The proposed scheme, funded by China, is expected to cover an area of 1.8 million hectares (equivalent to about half the size of the Netherlands).  Most of this mountainous region, part of the ‘Heart of Borneo', still holds huge tracts of forests, the home of threatened species and the source of 14 out of the island's 20 major rivers. WWF-International stresses that infertile soil and steep areas, such as those in the Heart of Borneo, prevent the development of oil palm plantations. As Dr Mubariq Ahmad, Chief Executive Director of WWF-Indonesia states: "Such a project could have long-lasting, damaging, consequences for the people who depend on the area and its massive water resources, which feed the whole island." Read the full story at: here.

Results of CIPRA'S Future in the Alps Competition

Following an earlier notice (Peak to Peak,July 2005), the International Commission for the Protection of the Alps (CIPRA) has awarded prizes worth a total of €160,000 to eight outstanding projects aimed at sustainable development in the Alpine region. One of the award winners is Sustainable Tourism -- ALPS 2005 (Nachhaltiger Tourismus ALPEN 2005), a European pilot project based in the Netherlands which aims to create a co-operation network between Benelux countries (Belgium, Netherlands and Luxemburg) and the Alps, to integrate sustainability issues into organized Alpine holidays and to build awareness about sustainable tourism amongst tourists. The project supports implementation of international agreements, such as the Alpine Convention, and is being carried out as a joint ‘partnership' activity with all stakeholders in the tourism chain. Its This model is therefore highly relevant to the theme of this year's International Mountain Day. Find out more about Sustainable Tourism – ALPS 2005 and other winners in CIPRA's competition here: CIPRA .

‘Save Kili' initiative gathers momentum

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has launched the second phase of the Community Management of Protected Areas Conservation Project (COMPACT), in its efforts to support conservation of Mt. Kilimanjaro – Africa's highest mountain. COMPACT aims to add value to existing biodiversity conservation programmes in and around World Heritage Sites by using community approaches. The first phase of COMPACT was a response to an aerial survey, conducted by UNDP, the United Nations Foundation, Global Environmental Facility (GEF) and UNEP, which revealed that between 1962 and 2000, Mt. Kilimanjaro had lost approximately 55 per cent of its glaciers. On the forest reserve, the survey showed the magnitude of extensive forest destruction, most of which could be attributed to human activities such as illegal logging, forest fires, charcoal production and quarries. In response, COMPACT projects since 2001 have focussed on the disseminating environmental awareness and education, capacity-building for community-based organizations, promoting irrigation farming and establishing energy farms to reduce pressure in natural forests. Other initiatives involve afforestation and agro-forestry, conserving forestry forests through bee-keeping and promoting joint forest management practices. In the Kilimanjaro region the COMPACT project has already achieved an increased involvement of local communities in the planning and management of protected areas, reduced threats to biodiversity, enhanced local awareness and support in conservation of natural resources. The second phase of COMPACT will run from 2005 to 2009 and has received a total of US10 million dollars from the United Nations Foundation, and the GEF Small Grants Programme. The project will strive to implement and replicate innovative technological approaches and community monitoring and management of natural resources. For further information about COMPACT, go to: UNDP Practice.

 

Issue 14
October 2005

The Mountain Partnership Newsletter

This is the fourteenth 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 October 2005, there are 126 members of the Mountain Partnership: 44 countries, 14 intergovernmental organizations and 68 major group organizations (e.g. civil society, NGOs and the private sector).

Update on Partnership Initiatives

E-consultation on Biodiversity Conservation in the Hindu-Kush Himalaya (22 August 2005 - 2 October 2005 )

The six-week Mountain Partnership e-consultation on biodiversity conservation in the Hindu Kush-Himalaya has recently concluded. 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. Read the wide range of views, knowledge, experiences and recommendations on opportunities for income generation, conservation between boundaries, access and benefit sharing of biodiversity resources and regional cooperation, along with summary conclusions and the synthesis report, at: http://www.mtnforum.org/E-Consultation05/index_econsult.htm

E-consultation on the Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development in Mountains (SARD-M)
Initiative (17-21 October 2005)

At the Second Global Meeting of the Mountain Partnership, or ‘Cusco Conference' (Peru, 28-29 October 2004), members of the SARD-M Initiative held a special breakaway session to discuss how to coordinate efforts to build this thematic group and its collaborative efforts on SARD-M related issues. This process will further advance later this month in a one-week e-consultation, open to all 73 members of the SARD-M Initiative as well as interested observers from the Mountain Partnership as a whole. The activity is being organized by the Global Secretariat of the Global Mountain Forum, in collaboration with the Mountain Forum regional nodes, and will be lead moderated by Dr. Peter Trutmann, Coordinator of the Global Mountain Programme at the International Potato Center (CIP) in Peru . For further information about participation in the SARD-M e-consultation, contact: mf-mp@mtnforum.org.

Policy and Law

The most significant research and scientific projects related to transport and sustainable mobility in alpine environments were recently shared amongst partners at a workshop in North Italy . The “Scientific Workshop On Mountain Mobility – SWOMM” (Bolzano, Italy, 6 October) aimed at sharing experiences and building a framework for the findings and results of scientific research in mobility issues over the the last five years in the Alpine region. The event was sponsored by the Italian Ministry for the Environment and Territory and organized by Mountain Partnership member, the European Academy (EURAC), in cooperation with the Centre for Studies on Transport Systems (CSST), and within the Policy and Law Initiative of the Mountain Partnership and the INTERREG IIIB – Alpine Space Programme. EURAC will disseminate all relevant documentation at the national and international level. For further information, visit the EURAC Web site at: http://www.eurac.edu/index.

Europe

The challenges and opportunities facing the mountain areas of Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans are under the political spotlight this month with a series of themed workshops, seminars and events during ‘ Slovak Mountain Week' . Leading members of the Mountain Partnership Initiatives on Europe, SARD-M and Policy and Law -- and the Mountain Partnership Secretariat -- are working together to provide key organizational and technical inputs to the week.

Of particular note is the three-day conference, ‘Integrated Rural Development in the Mountain Areas of Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans' (Liptovský Mikuláš, Slovakia. 24-26 October 2005), which is being organized by EUROMONTANA, within the framework of the Mountain Partnership and in cooperation with UNEP and the Project for Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development in Mountain Regions (SARD-M project). The Conference is set to attract representatives from regional development agencies, research organizations, farmers' organizations and government ministries in efforts to promote good examples of integrated mountain development that includes diversified livelihoods, analyse mountain policies within Central and Eastern Europe and foster multisectoral cooperation between mountain actors across the whole of Europe. The opening workshop session, ‘ Strengthening policies for the protection and sustainable development of the Carpathians', convened by UNEP and the Project for Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development in Mountain Regions (SARD-M project), will draw on a policy assessement exercise in Slovakia, Romania and Ukraine . Over the following two days, Mountain Partnership members (e.g. the Centre of Mountain Areas, the European Association of Elected Representatives from Mountain Areas - AEM, International Commission for the Protection of the Alps - CIPRA, European Academy - EURAC, UNEP - Interim Secretariat for the Carpathian Convention) and the Mountain Partnership Secretariat will take part in sessions dealing variously with good practice in environmental frameworks, the networks and tools available for management and cooperation in the region, new business opportunities for diversifying and adding value to mountain areas, and specific training and educational activities in support of the mountain areas in Central and Eastern Europe. To find out more, visit the EUROMONTANA Web site at: http://www.euromontana.org/# .

International Mountain Day 2005

Tourism can exacerbate poverty amongst mountain populations. But tourism can also provide lasting benefits for mountain people, if sensitively planned and managed. ‘Sustainable Tourism for Poverty Alleviation in Mountain Areas' is the theme of UN International Mountain Day 2005 -- an opportunity to create awareness about the peril and promise of mountain tourism, to highlight promising models of sustainable tourism and to build partnerships at all levels to promote sustainable tourism that will reduce poverty, improve livelihoods, and protect environments for mountain people and visitors alike. FAO, the agency mandated to lead observance of International Mountain Day, has developed a dedicated Web site featuring an information note on sustainable mountain tourism, guidelines, fact sheets, and links to individuals and organizations working to achieve sustainable and responsible tourism in mountain areas around the world. Watch this site for regular new postings of information resources, including a forthcoming Powerpoint presentation on how to celebrate International Mountain Day at the country level. Visit the International Mountain Day Web site at: http://www.fao.org/mnts/intl_mountain_day_en.asp . If you wish to share an interesting case study, article, news or features on sustainable mountain s tourism, write to: mountain.day@fao.org .

Launch of new Mountain Forum Web site

Mountain Forum has launched its new Web site. The re-designed site offers users new navigational features for easier retrieval of information without compromising simplicity and usability for low bandwidth users. Work is currently underway to finalize a new membership database system and a refined version of the Mountain Forum on-library within this new Web site -- both elements will be in place by January 2006, the tenth anniversary of the Mountain Forum. “ While making these changes, the needs of users with limited and expensive internet access have been uppermost in our mind”, states Prashant Sharma, Communications Manager of the Global Secretariat of the Mountain Forum. “ For users who find even these pages too heavy, we recommend the use of http://www.loband.org through which a text-only version of this (and any other) Web site can be browsed”. Visit the Mountain Forum Web site at: http://www.mtnforum.org/index.cfm and send any send any feedback, or suggestions for further changes, to feedback@mtnforum.org.

Future events

World Food Day (16 October 2005, global)
Agriculture and intercultural dialogue

A genuine intercultural dialogue is a precondition for progress against hunger and environmental degradation, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The agency has declared “Agriculture and intercultural dialogue” as the theme of the 2005 World Food Day, which will be celebrated on 16 October at FAO' s Rome headquarters as well as in 150 countries around the world.  The Day will recall the contribution of different cultures to world agriculture and how the intercultural movement of crops and livestock breeds has revolutionized diets and reduced poverty. For example, the potato, which can be grown quickly and economically, was introduced to northern Europe from South America in the 16th century helping free the masses from longstanding hunger. Maize, which is originally from the Americas, now feeds much of Africa . With agriculture, intercultural dialogue takes place at meetings and trade negotiations and every time an expert from one culture shows another something new in the laboratory or field. Visit the World Food Day Web site, ‘It ' s our common heritage', at: http://www.fao.org/wfd/2005/index.asp?lang=en . ‘Cultural Diversity as an Asset' was the theme of the Mountain Research and Development (MRD) Journal (February 2005). Read the abstracts or order complete issue on–line at: http://www.mrd-journal.org/issue.asp?Issue_ID=42.

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

 

Past events

The GLOCHAMORE Open Science Conference
(Perth, Scotland, UK, 2-6 October 2005)

This conference on global change research in mountain regions of the world was the final event of the EU-funded Global Change in Mountain Regions (GLOCHAMORE) project (Peak to Peak, March 2005 ), which is jointly implemented by the Mountain Research Initiative, UNESCO and other partners. The event communicated new results between scientists and researchers working in the mountains of both industrialized and developing countries, and presented a framework for long-term research on global change that can be implemented in Mountain Biosphere Reserves and other mountain locations. The Mountain Partnership was well-represented in the proceedings with presentations and themed sessions chaired by CONDESAN, the Centre for Mountain Studies, the Centre for Development and Environment (CDE) and FAO. The Mountain Research Initiative offered webcasts, both in real time and via subsequent download, of plenary presentations from the Conference. Go to the conference Web site: http://www.mountain.conf.uhi.ac.uk/ and view the Conference at: http://fp3demo.mediasite.com/fp3demo/Viewer/?cid=6249802f-a08b-4899-a021-4614351da527 .

Publications

Forests and floods – Drowning in fiction or thriving on facts? FAO / RAP Publication 2005/03

The driving force behind much environmental policy is a set of powerful assumptions on the links between cause and effects and images of environmental crises. This is no more evident than in the case of devastating floods and landslides that affect the personal and economic fortunes of millions of people in the Asia-Pacific region every year. Upland farmers and loggers are blamed for clearing and degrading forests. In many people's minds, the use and abuse of forests in upland watersheds represents the main cause of massive lowland floods. Forests and floods: drowning in fiction or thriving on facts? explores this complexity and the scientific evidence linking floods and forests and reveals that much of the perceived wisdom cannot be substantiated by science. It distinguishes fact from fiction and recommends alternative approaches for effective watershed and floodplain management. For further information on this publication and how to obtain a copy, write to Thomas Enters at thomas.enters@fao.org.