Mountains loom large in some of the world’s most spectacular landscapes. Their unique topography, compressed climatic zones and isolation have created the conditions for a wide spectrum of life forms.
Half of the world’s biodiversity hotspots are concentrated in mountains and mountains support approximately one-quarter of terrestrial biological diversity. Mountains are home to rare species of plants and animals. These include increasingly rare animals such as gorillas, mountain lions, and the majestic tahr or strikingly beautiful plants such as orchids and lobelias.
A large portion of the world's most precious gene pools (for agriculture and medicine) are preserved in mountains. Crops that are important for food security, such as maize, potatoes, barley, sorghum, tomatoes and apples, have been diversified in mountains and an array of domestic animals - sheep, goats, yaks, llamas and alpacas - have originated or been diversified in mountains. Other crops, such as wheat, rye, rice, oats and grapes, have found new homes in the mountains and evolved into many varieties. Coffee and tea, with their roots in Ethiopia and the Himalayan region, are mountain crops as well. Medicinal plants are one of the most valuable resources from high altitudes. This rich biodiversity holds cultural, ecological and economic value. In the Andes, for example, farmers know of as many as 200 different varieties of Indigenous Peoples' potatoes and, in Nepal, they farm approximately 2 000 varieties of rice.
Climate change, poverty, commercial mining, logging and poaching all exact a heavy toll on mountain biodiversity. The sustainable management of mountain biodiversity has increasingly been recognized as a global priority. The Convention on Biological Diversity adopted a Programme of Work on Mountain Biological Diversity in 2004, which includes a set of actions and targets addressing characteristics and problems that are specific to mountain ecosystems.
![]() European Mountain Convention - 2-4 October 2012, Chambery, FrancenewsThe European Mountain Convention will take place this year from 2 to 4 October 2012 in Chambery, France. The Convention is organized by the European Association for Mountain Areas (Euromontana) in cooperation with the French region Rhône Alpes. The three-day conference will feature discussions on several topics related... Read more » |
![]() United Nations General Assembly Resolution: Sustainable Mountain Development (2012)publicationResolution adopted by the General Assembly on Sustainable mountain development at the 66th Session. A/RES/66/205
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![]() City of Aspen (US) moved into warmer climate zonenewsNew national climate designations released this month by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) confirm that winter is getting warmer around the city of Aspen. The mountain city of Aspen, member of the Mountain Partnership since 2010 is, for the first time, in the same climate zone of warmer and... Read more » |
![]() UNEP to implement EUR 2.3 million project rehabilitating the water towers of KenyanewsA new three-year intervention to rehabilitate the Northern Mau Forest at the cost of EUR 2.3 million is set to deliver multiple benefits for Kenya and the region. The Mau Forest isn’t just the largest mountain forest in Kenya. It is the largest in all of Eastern Africa. In Kenya,... Read more » |
Climate change may push Andean species skywardnewsA new study led by researchers at Duke University has identified and mapped hundreds of endemic plant and animal species across 17,000 miles of east-facing Andean uplift, a section ranging through Bolivia and Peru. It found that only 20 percent of areas with the highest levels of biodiversity are protected... Read more » |
![]() Rare wheat from the mountains of Tajikistan at Arctic seed vaultnewsRare wheat collected from the “Roof of the World” in the Pamir Mountains in Tajikistan; amaranth, barley and once-forgotten forage crops that could sustain livestock in these climatestressed times are among the seed samples arriving this week for the fourth birthday of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault (SGSV). The Global... Read more » |
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