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 International Mountain Day 2020: Mira Rai made Mountain Partnership ambassador11.12.2020Nepalese trail and sky runner Mira Rai was today appointed a Mountain Partnership Goodwill Ambassador as people across the world celebrate International Mountain Day. The Mountain Partnership is a United Nations voluntary alliance dedicated to improving the lives of mountain peoples and protecting mountain environments, with a secretariat hosted at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). A former National Geographic Adventurer of the Year, Rai describes herself as a “daughter of the mountains”. Her native country, Nepal, has the world’s highest mountains, and its Himalayan region is home to many indigenous communities and rich biodiversity. "Pollution, climate change and other human activities are threatening [mountains]," said Rai. "Let us all come together and join hands to preserve and protect our beautiful mountains." Rai is also the founder of the Mira Rai Initiative, a platform for empowering aspiring female trail runners in Nepal and promoting trail running as a mainstream adventure sport in Nepal. “As a remarkable athlete, avid advocate for gender equality and emblem of positivity and possibility, the appointment of Mira Rai as Mountain Partnership Goodwill Ambassador will help increase awareness of the vital importance of mountains, both in the Himalayan region and worldwide,” said Yuka Makino, Coordinator of the Mountain Partnership Secretariat. High-level virtual celebration Rai’s appointment will be made official at a virtual celebration by FAO and the Mountain Partnership, 'Mountain Biodiversity Matters’ (11 December, 14.30 –16.15 CET). The event will focus on solutions for halting biodiversity loss and improving livelihoods in mountains and features the launch of a study on food insecurity in rural mountain areas. With opening remarks by FAO Deputy Director-General Maria Helena Semedo, the event includes a high-level session with sustainable mountain development leaders, a roundtable on accelerating action for mountains, and a section with the Mountain Partnership Goodwill Ambassadors, including mountaineer and explorer Reinhold Messner, pianist and composer Ludovico Einaudi and His Holiness Drikung Kyabgön Chetsang. Einaudi and fellow ambassador, climber and filmmaker Jake Norton, will meanwhile release a video today in celebration of mountains using a track gifted to the Mountain Partnership by Einaudi. The video shows the beauty and fragility of mountain ecosystems and their biodiversity, and the richness and diversity of peoples who rely on mountains and call them home. Photo contest winners FAO and the Mountain Partnership today announced the winners of the International Mountain Day photo contest on mountain biodiversity. Over 500 beautiful photos of mountain landscapes, plants and animals were received from 55 countries. Chosen by a panel of FAO judges, the winners are Tarushi Agrawal from India (children category), Jaime Venegas from Ecuador (youth category) and Troise Carmine-Washi from Italy (adult category). They will each receive an action camera. Related links FAO DG QU Dongyu's video message for International Mountain Day 2020 Virtual celebration of International Mountain Day (14:30 –16:15 CET) Photo by Richard Bull |
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