News
 IMD in the Americas26.01.2016Both North and South America marked International Mountain Day (IMD) through various events in countries such as Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, the United States and Venezuela. The Red Ambientalista Brisa, the Centro de Ecología de Boconó, the Grupo Amigos de los Arboles de Boconó and the Museo Trapiche de los Clavo collaborated on a series of events in Boconó, in the Venezuelan Andes: a conference on environmental preservation, especially mountain ecosystems; workshops; an exhibition of mountain products and crafts; a musical evening with peasant and traditional music; and a 10-kilometre walk to Guaramacal. In the mountains of the community of Rio Jesús, San Ramon, located in the Central Pacific side of Costa Rica, IMD was celebrated by the Committee of the Costa Rica Mountain Alliance - Instituto Meteorológico Nacional (IMN), Sistema Nacional de Areas de Conservacion (SINAC) and Fundación para el Desarrollo de la Cordillera Volcánica Central (FUNDECOR) - community residents and the Comisión Asesora sobre Degradación de Tierras (CADETI). Participants shared experiences on how to improve soil management and agricultural production. "If traditions are kept, if knowledge is shared, then the community will grow” was the consensus. In the USA, the Utah International Mountain Forum (UIMF) of Utah Valley University (UVU) and University of Utah joined together twice for the celebration of IMD. The first event focused on expanding the network of sustainable mountain development supporters in the State of Utah through a number of student presentations, a keynote speech and musical performance aimed at engaging the greater Salt Lake City community. For the second event, UIMF members hosted the Permanent Representative of Fiji to the United Nations, His Excellency Peter Thomson, who gave a lecture at UVU entitled “Why small-island developing states matter at the United Nations”. In Tucker County, West Virginia, a rural, mountainous community, The Mountain Institute and the Mountain Laurel Learning Cooperative partnered to host their first IMD celebration. Students learned about mountains (formation, types, famous ranges, etc) and the goods and services found in their own mountain community in the weeks leading up to the celebration. Some of their work was on display for community members to enjoy while they, too, had the opportunity to reflect and share why they love living in a mountain community. All of the work developed from this celebration was exchanged with a "sister site", Quality Schools International, Bishkek, in Kyrgyzstan. The Corporación Nacional Forestal (CONAF) held the IV Expomontaña 2015 in Copiapó, Chile, to raise awareness of the high value of mountain tourism for the community of Atacama and the importance of promoting Atacama as a mountain destination and for fair participants to exchange information, and experiences. They also led a seminar, inviting the Atacama community to take part in the celebration, to bring attention to the high environmental, cultural and touristic value of the Atacama region as well as held a night trek on Palomar Hill. The state of Veracruz, Mexico, commemorated IMD this year by promoting mountain activities, tourism and destinations, such as Pico de Orizaba, a popular attraction in the state of Veracruz. The Department of Biodiversity and Biotechnology of the Private Education Unit Tagesshule San Gerardo in Loja, Ecuador, had students conduct research on mountains, then engage in discussions to finally develop a collage with this year’s theme focussing on the Andean region. The Consejo Consultivo De Cuenca Chilibre Chilibrillo in Panama marked IMD with several activities on 11 December, including: walks to the Mirador la Cruz; a mountain hike to place an environmental flag on top of the mountain; cultural presentations and folk ensembles. The Centro de Pensamiento Ambiental (CEPA) held the Fourth Environmental Chair which subject to the celebration of IMD. The chair developed in two parts: it started with a presentation entitled “The University of Caldas and its environmental commitment” by engineer Luisa Fernanda Ramirez; it continued with a collective planting with the participants to the event. The main purpose of the Environmental Chair is to promote the knowledge of important environmental initiatives that have been growing and developing in the region. Photo: Consejo Consultivo De Cuenca Chilibre Chilibrillo More pictures of IMD celebrations are available on the Mountain Partnership’s Flickr gallery.
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