News
 Global overview of International Mountain Day 202111.01.2022Under the theme “Sustainable tourism in mountains”, global celebrations of International Mountain Day (IMD) 2021 transported participants to far and distant locations – physically and virtually. Governments, organizations and individuals in 46 countries organized over 75 events to mark the International Day. As the lead United Nations (UN) coordinating agency for the observance, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) supported partners’ events globally. FAO also held a high-level online event that celebrated mountains with speakers worldwide and launched a new joint publication with the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) on the role of tourism in the sustainable development of mountain regions. During the event, two new Mountain Partnership Goodwill Ambassadors, fashion designer Stella Jean and Tajik youth volunteer Dilshodbegim Khisravova, joined the Mountain Partnership (MP) family. An IMD photo contest on mountain tourism promoted by FAO received over 390 stunning photos from 66 countries. Susheel Kumar Shrestha from Nepal won the adult category for his photo "Beautiful Nepal", and Yifei Yan from China won the youth category for her photo "Mt Assiniboine and Hind Hut", taken in Canada. Outreach was impressive with more than 110 articles in major national and international news outlets, including a joint editorial by FAO Director-General QU Dongyu and UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili. Over 6 600 tweets with the hashtag #MountainsMatter were delivered to more than 107 million Twitter timelines. In addition, two FAO Instagram Reels received over 128 000 views. A journey around the world
Events with a global focus A session at Expo 2020 Dubai led by the Mountain Partnership Secretariat highlighted opportunities and challenges in mountain development to help build alliances to protect fragile mountain communities and promote sustainable mountain tourism. The Geneva Environment Network dedicated one of its Geneva Beat Plastic Pollution Dialogues to IMD. The dialogue put mountains in the spotlight of global efforts to address plastic pollution. Adaptation at Altitude and the Inter-Parliamentary Union hosted a webinar focusing on migration and internal displacement due to climate change in mountain areas, and explored a variety of solutions to increase mountain communities' resilience and capacity to adapt. The World Bank published a blog on "From the Alps to the Pamirs: Investing in mountain economies to make people and places more resilient", and the United Nations Environment Programme named Nepalese mountaineer Nirmal Purja, the star of the Netflix documentary “14 Peaks”, a Mountain Advocate. IMD celebrations in Africa The Government of Malawi through its Ministries of Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources, Tourism, Culture and Wildlife developed a task force to organize an IMD event in Zomba Mountain City, which included press briefings, tree plantings, group hikes and more. Yaoundé Cameroon together with the African Network for the Protection and Education in the Environment organized a mountain hike to raise awareness on the importance of conserving mountain ecosystems. In Tanzania, photographer Davie Masanja hosted an exhibition called "gate" (pronounced "gah-tey") in light of IMD. Masanja was selected for Manzi's inaugural residency, which offers artists the opportunity to experience the scenic views and cultures of the Uluguru Mountains. Commemorating IMD in the Americas The Canadian Mountain Network together with Reconciling Ways of Knowing: Indigenous Knowledge and Science hosted a webinar on conserving cultural and natural heritage. The Canadian Mountain Network was also active in celebrating IMD on social media ahead of the Day. The Utah International Mountain Forum, a coalition of student clubs at Utah Valley University, hosted its twelfth annual IMD observance with a focus on community-based tourism and policies to help reverse the impacts of COVID-19 on the tourism sector. The organization VICAM worked with the children of Primary School 279 “Abdon Castro Tolay” in Argentina to bring them closer to their local biocultural heritage with a walking trip to the emblematic Caravanners’ Cave. Argentina’s National Mountain Committee and Peru’s National Institute for Research on Glaciers and Mountain Ecosystems both held national-level events focusing on the importance of mountains in their countries. CONDESAN, the Humboldt Institute and the United Nations Environment Programme held a three-day virtual conference focused on transitioning towards sustainability in scenarios of environmental change in the Andes. IMD events in Asia, Near East and North Africa In India, the Central Himalayan Institute for Nature and Applied Research conducted workshops to spread awareness about the conservation of the natural and cultural heritage of the Himalayas. Devcom Pakistan's flagship Pakistan Mountain Festival launched a cleanup of the popular Margalla Hills Trail-3. The third Pakistan Mountain Youth Parliament followed on 9 December and a mountain conference on 11 December. “Jewels of Borneo” was a two-day programme held in conjunction with IMD to highlight Mount Kinabalu in Kinabalu Park, Malaysia's first World Heritage Site. The event also showcased neighbouring mountains located in Indonesia and Thailand. The Mountain Civil Coalition in Morocco held two conferences on territorial justice in favour of mountains for IMD. National Coordinator Mohammed Dich furthermore conducted interviews with newspapers and radio stations. IMD celebrations across Europe Italy celebrated IMD at national level with a high-level event hosted by Sergio Mattarella, President of the Italian Republic. The event was attended by Ministers and representatives of local authorities from mountain regions of Italy as well as FAO Director-General QU Dongyu. The project "White Tour" was launched on IMD by Mountains of Music, a musical duet formed by Elisa Mas and Landry Riba. It will include a series of concerts in mountain refuges throughout Andorra to promote dialogue about culture and the mountain environment between January and April 2022. The Landscape, Alps, Parks Forum, together with the Swiss Alpine Museum, Swiss Alpine Club and CIPRA Switzerland, organized a creative IMD celebration featuring presentations on the subject of Alpine dreams. At European level, the Alpine Convention conducted its annual Reading Mountains Festival to explore the meaning, impact, and purpose of Alpine literature. MOVING held its first EU MAP webinar on “Mountain value chains: Heterogeneity and innovation”. To inform the MPS of your International Mountain Day 2021 activities if you have not done so already, please email [email protected]. View the IMD 2021 flickr album Photo: ©Pradeep Mehta |
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