| FO:LACFC/2002/6 |
|
LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN FORESTRY COMMISSION |
Item 3(d) of the Provisional Agenda |
22nd SESSION |
Buenos Aires, Argentina, 7 - 11 October, 2002 |
INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF MOUNTAINS, 2002 |
Secretariat Note |
1. In 1998 the United Nations General Assembly declared 2002 the International Year of Mountains (IYM) and invited FAO to be the lead agency to prepare and coordinate observance of the Year. Under the overall goal of ensuring the well-being of mountain populations by promoting sustainable development of mountain regions, IYM objectives are to:
2. FAO is now implementing the lead agency role to prepare and coordinate observance of the Year. An IYM coordination unit has been established in the Forestry Department at FAO headquarters. Additional staffing has been procured, mainly through extra-budgetary resources, to cover the various responsibilities related to this work. In addition, a temporary professional post in watershed management has been established and a senior consultant recruited to ensure that, in spite of the time and resources absorbed in IYM preparation and observance, FAO's technical programme in watershed management is maintained at a high level of activity, including both field and normative aspects. This strength has been sustained through the establishment of a new Regular Programme professional post in the Forestry Department in Sustainable Mountain Development in the 2002-2003 biennium. The Interdepartmental Working Group on Mountains helps secure interdisciplinary approaches to mountain issues, and technically supports the delivery of FAO coordinating functions.
3. An IYM Focus Group of Permanent Representatives to the UN in New York has been established to provide support and guidance to the International Year of Mountains observance. The group has been closely involved in preparations for the official global launch ceremony that was held on 11 December 2001 at UN headquarters. The International Year of Mountains Focus Group includes representatives from Austria, Bhutan, Bolivia, Ethiopia, France, Guatemala, Iceland, Italy, Jamaica, Kyrgyzstan, Lao PDR, Lesotho, Peru, Slovenia and Switzerland.
4. In accordance with the communications plan for the Year, communication tools to support and guide national participation, including information and promotional packages, have been developed and disseminated to a wide variety of partners, including IYM national committees. The IYM coordination unit at FAO has launched the official IYM logo and made it available for public use, while the dedicated IYM web site (www.mountains2002.org) has undergone further development and is currently available in English, French and Spanish. An official slogan for the IYM, "We are all mountain people", has been made available to the public.
5. The main focus of attention and support for IYM observance is at country level. Although many global and regional mountain events are planned for 2002, awareness raising and mobilising interested stakeholders at national level are viewed as the key to long term success of the IYM, particularly in terms of ensuring sustained action toward development and conservation in mountain regions. By late August 2002, more than 70 countries had established or were in the process of establishing a national committee responsible for the preparatory activities and celebration of the IYM; and among member countries of the Latin America and Caribbean Forestry Commission, 16 countries had established national committees. FAO is able to provide support to each interested country to assist with national observance efforts.
6. Significant rearrangements of Regular Programme resources, largely regarding staff time, have been made to support preparations for IYM. Extra-budgetary have been mobilized to support the work being carried out directly by the IYM coordination unit to help prepare and facilitate observance of the IYM at national, regional and global levels. Thanks to the generous contributions of Switzerland, Italy and Austria to the International Year of Mountains trust fund (totalling approximately US$1,000,000), FAO has been able to implement a significant proportion of the activities planned to fulfil the lead agency role and much has been achieved. However, although modest direct support to countries to carry out national observance has been made available to many countries, significant additional financial resources will need to be mobilized to assist countries develop and implement national strategies and programmes for their mountain areas in the follow-up to the IYM.
7. FAO, as lead agency, has been facilitating close collaboration among the major events to ensure a well coordinated and coherent overall approach to the IYM. The aim is to ensure that each of the major global processes and events has the opportunity and is encouraged to build on the results of the other processes that precede it, and that all the results are fully considered and duly recognised at the final IYM conference, the Bishkek Global Mountain Summit in late October. Global IYM meetings include:
8. In addition, two world summit meetings in 2002 have provided high level opportunities through dedicated side events to focus on mountain issues: the World Food Summit (Rome, 10-13 June 2002) and the World Summit on Sustainable Development (26 August-4 September 2002, Johannesburg, South Africa).
9. The International Year of Mountains is being intensely observed around the world at many national and international events, through a large number of initiatives and by a great diversity of institutions and individuals. These diversified initiatives will lead to more effective partnerships and plans for long-term collaborative action to achieve the objectives of chapter 13. An International Partnership for Sustainable Development in Mountain Regions was presented as a Type 2 Outcome at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), 26 August to 4 September 2002, Johannesburg, South Africa. The purpose of the Partnership, which was initiated by the Swiss Government, FAO and UNEP, is to enable more effective implementation of chapter 13. It will build on the Inter-Agency Group on Mountains, which has been the main institutional mechanism to advise on the implementation of chapter 13 as well as on the planning and implementation of the Year. The Partnership is conceived as a mechanism for improving, strengthening and promoting greater cooperation between major groups, donors, implementing agencies, non-governmental organizations, private sector, mountain communities, scientists, field practitioners and other stakeholders. It will be guided by clearly agreed goals, its operations will be based on commitments made by partners and implementation will be supported through better linkages between institutions and improved monitoring systems.
10. Today, cooperation between FAO and countries of the region is expected to increase in the implementation of chapter 13 of Agenda 21 as a result of the observance of the International Year of Mountains, with new opportunities arising for technical cooperation in conservation and development programmes in mountain areas. Several countries in the region are presently developing new mountain initiatives or mountain focused programmes.
11. Networking on mountain issues among countries of the region is becoming increasingly important with a growing need to exchange information, approaches and best practices. The Mountain Forum is already providing networking services, but will require stronger and continued institutional and financial support to be fully effective. The Andean Mountains Association is also expected to play an increasingly important role on the continent as the main forum dealing with mountain research concerns, but also taking into greater consideration related development concerns. And the Latin American Technical Cooperation Network on Watershed Management has focused its actions, with FAO support, on the management of mountain micro-catchments. It too is expected to continue to be an important forum for countries to develop improved strategies for watershed management in the region.
12. As part of its programme of natural resource management, the FAO Regional Office has prioritized the conservation and development of mountain resources and watershed management and has promoted actions related to policy making and methodological and technical support for the planning, management and sustainable development of mountain areas.
13. In addition to the global level meetings mentioned above in Peru, Ecuador and Argentina, many other mountain events have been planned in the region during 2002, as the Regional Conference on Mountains held in Cuba, in May 2002 and a regional expert meeting to take stock of successful watershed management experience with a view to developing the next generation of watershed management projects; and a gathering of IYM national committee representatives to define regional priorities as a preparation for the Bishkek Global Mountain Summit.
14. The management of mountain areas has traditionally been an important area of concern for the forestry sector in the Region. An important issue for the Latin American and Caribbean Forestry Commission is the role that forestry can play in providing leadership in the planning, co-ordinating and facilitating the programmes and activities for the observance of the IYM in the countries.
1 Further details on these events are available on the IYM website (www.mountains2002.org).
