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Asia celebrates mountains

16.01.2015

On 11 December 2014, events took place throughout Asia to celebrate International Mountain Day (IMD). For example, the Alpine Club of Iran, in collaboration with the Islamic Republic of Iran Mountaineering and Sport Climbing Federation, Mountaineering and Sport Climbing Board of Tehran Province and the Mountain Environment Protection Society (MEPS), held a conference in Tehran, Iran, on mountain policies as mountains cover more than half of the country.

In his speech at the event, Serge Nakouzi of the Iran office of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), pointed out that mountains not only are a major source of freshwater and resilience in arid regions but also host vital biodiversity and shelter extraordinary flora. “International Mountain Day provides an occasion for us to reflect on the importance of mountains to our lives and on the opportunities as well as the constraints presently faced in terms of sustainable mountain development,” said Nakouzi.

For the first year, Myanmar joined the IMD celebrations. The Forest Department of the Ministry of Environmental Conservation and Forestry celebrated in four states: Kachin, Kayah, Chin and Shan, with a total of 718 participants from various institutions. Since mountains occupy a large portion of the country, the events highlighted the need to push for more sustainable mountain development.

Borneo also held its first celebration with an event organized by the Faculty of Hotel and Tourism Management of MARA University of Technology, Sabah; the Sustainable Tourism Research Cluster and University of Science Malaysia, Penang with an excursion to Kinabalu Park, Malaysia's first World Heritage Site. The celebration coincided with the closing of the Fourth International Conference Tourism Research and the Sabah Parks's 50th Golden Jubilee celebration. The celebration kicked-off with a video by FAO, “Celebrating Mountains on 11 December” and a keynote presentation by Bernards Alen Zako of the Asia and the Pacific office of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

In New Delhi, India, the “Meet of the Mountain States” was organized by the Integrated Mountain Initiative (IMI) to coincide with IMD. Discussions focused on including India’s mountainous states in the policy planning process as a way to improve mountain development. Purno Agitok Sangma was the Guest of Honour on opening day while Eklabya Sharma of the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) was the Guest of Honour on day two. FAO Representative ad interim in India Kevin Gallagher spoke about family farming and the Mountain Partnership (MP).

In Haputale, Sri Lanka, the Prabhawa Organization held a hike in the nearby mountains, which saw the attendance of more than one hundred climbers and the town’s mayor. Traditional mountain food, including Kenda kola leaves with freshly brewed tea in a coconut shell, was served. A religious event also took place at Kuringi Sri Muthumariyamman Kovil.  Participants lighted oil lamps to commemorate the victims of the Meeriyabedda landslide disaster on 29 October 2014.

In Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, the Mountain Partnership Central Asia Hub organized a partnership fair, where MP members demonstrated their best practices on sustainable mountain development and a photo exhibition featuring mountain farmers in the Kyrgyz Republic. The master class by the Agency of Development Initiatives (ADI) called “Laboratory of taste: window gardening” provided an opportunity for participants to learn farming techniques and plant herb seeds in pots for their own kitchen window gardens.

For a full list of events, read more on the IMD website

Photos:Pasindu Dissanayaka