News

Enter the #MountainsMatter video contest

25.09.2017

To bring attention to the plight of mountain peoples and ecosystems for International Mountain Day (IMD) on 11 December, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is asking you to make a one-minute video on the theme of ‘Mountains under pressure: climate, hunger, migration’ for the #MountainsMatter video contest. Almost one billion people live in mountain areas and over half the human population depends on mountains for water, food and clean energy. Yet mountains are under threat from climate change, land degradation and natural disasters, which in turn affects mountain peoples, exacerbating hunger and forcing migration. Help tell these stories by entering the #MountainsMatter video contest. Winners will receive a trip to Rome, Italy to see their videos screened at the IMD concert.

Individuals 18 or over (see the Terms and Conditions for details) may enter the contest by uploading a video about mountains to YouTube with the hashtag #MountainsMatter and then providing the link to the video through the online submission form. Participants can choose to compete in one of two categories: general or professional:

• General: No professional equipment? No worries! Grab your smartphone and record a message about mountains, film yourself explaining how climate change has affected a mountain you know, interview someone from a mountain community in a rural area about the difficulties they encounter, or think of another idea that inspires you around the concept of mountains under pressure.
• Professional: This category is open to people who would like to produce entries with professional video and editing equipment. You do not have to be a film-maker to enter, but you may be competing with them!

The deadline for entries is 20 October 2017. The two categories will be evaluated separately:

• The winner of the general category will be the entry with the most views on YouTube.
• The winner of the professional category will be chosen by a panel of judges including professionals working in mountains and communications who will judge the entries according to their relevance to the mountain theme as well as for aesthetic and technical excellence. The number of views on YouTube will not count in the judging of this category.

Winners will be notified by 30 October and will be officially announced on 11 December.

Since 2003, FAO has observed IMD every year to create awareness about the importance of mountains to life, to highlight the opportunities and constraints in mountain development and to build alliances that will bring positive change to mountain peoples and environments around the world. The theme chosen for this year’s celebration, ‘Mountains under pressure: climate, hunger, migration’, provides an occasion to highlight how climate, hunger and migration are affecting highlands and to ensure that sustainable mountain development is integrated into the 2030 Agenda and in the implementation of the Paris Agreement.

The 2017 theme is also linked to the Mountain Partnership Global Meeting, to be held on 11-13 December at FAO headquarters in Rome, which will focus on the challenges and opportunities in sustainable mountain development and will launch a Framework for Action to support concrete actions and establish policies that strengthen the resilience of mountain peoples and environments.