The involvement of Indigenous Peoples and local communities is a prerequisite for sustainable mountain development. The traditional knowledge and food production systems of Indigenous Peoples and traditional mountain communities provide important lessons on how to adapt to climate change, and are a reflection of value systems that place ecosystem preservation at the centre of their belief systems.
For Indigenous Peoples and local communities living in mountain areas, land, water and forests are not simply natural resources to be used. As their ancestors before them, today’s mountain dwellers understand that their well-being, their group identity and their children’s future depend on the careful stewardship of the environment. This ‘intangible heritage’ also enriches the global community, providing inspiration and insights for realizing a more sustainable relationship between humankind and the environment.
Mountain peoples cultivate a wide variety of crops that are adapted to a range of different elevations, slope conditions and microclimates. Moreover, Indigenous local farmers in mountains around the world have explicitly designed their agricultural systems to protect the soil from erosion, conserve water resources and reduce the risks of disasters triggered by natural hazards. These agricultural systems contribute to the protection of ecosystems, with tangible benefits also for communities downstream. In fact, it is widely recognized that while Indigenous Peoples only make up 5% of the world’s population, they are considered custodians of as much as 80% of the world’s biodiversity.
Therefore, mountain-dwelling Indigenous Peoples and local communities serve as custodians of traditional knowledge and biodiversity, including agrobiodiversity. It is important to recognize in Indigenous Peoples' mountain communities that men and women often have different areas of knowledge, experience and responsibility that contribute to preserving biodiversity, therefore special attention should be given to the knowledge and contributions of Indigenous women.
Despite the demonstrated importance of Indigenous Peoples' food systems and the broader set of cultural practices from which they derive, these are in danger of being transformed beyond recognition by the demographic, economic and environmental changes underway in mountain areas today. Many Indigenous Peoples in mountains are losing their lands as a result of phenomena such as encroachment, forced displacement, rural-to-urban migration and soil degradation. Indigenous Peoples' foods, stigmatized as ‘foods of the poor’, are often abandoned in favour of non-local foods that may be more readily available or convenient to cook but often contain high levels of sugar and fat and have relatively low nutritional value. This phenomenon compounds the problem of relatively high rates of iodine and vitamin A micronutrient deficiencies found in impoverished mountain communities.
With climate change scenarios strongly suggesting that if current trends continue, extreme weather events are likely to become ever more common and more intense in mountain areas, it is necessary to integrate Indigenous Peoples' agricultural systems and their historical perspectives on climate variability as key-tools in climate change adaptation strategies. The Mountain Partnership advocates for global attention and tangible commitments from the international community to achieving sustainable mountain development. This includes the inclusion of Indigenous Peoples' knowledge in responding to climate change adaptation, as stipulated by the UNFCCC COP21 Paris Agreement, and the right of Indigenous Peoples to their land, territories and resources, as stipulated by the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Indigenous Mountain Peoples Map
![]() United Nations General Assembly Resolution: Sustainable Mountain Development (2022)publicationResolution approved by the United Nations General Assembly on sustainable mountain development at seventy-seventh session. A/RES/77/172 Download » |
![]() Traditional mountain landscapes: crucial for meeting biodiversity and climate targetspublicationTraditional mountain landscapes governed by Indigenous Peoples and local communities (IPLCs) conserve unique wildlife and agrobiodiversity, and strongly support climate change adaptation and mitigation by protecting ecosystem services, including grasslands that store almost 50 percent more carbon than forests. But mountain biodiversity and the Indigenous and traditional peoples that sustain it... Download » |
![]() Women Move Mountains photo contest openspeak to peakThe November 2022 issue of Peak to Peak announces the opening of the International Mountain Day 2022 photo contest, "Women move mountains". Top news stories spotlight countries' mountain advocacy efforts in Nepal and Romania and continue with updates on Mountain Partnership members' projects in Ecuador and Tajikistan. Peak to Peak... Download » |
![]() “Minga” for the sustainable development of mountains in EcuadornewsOn 13 September 2022, the Community of Practice Minga de la Montaña (Minga of the Mountain) was launched in Latacunga, Ecuador, with the participation of 120 people. Minga is a tradition of several Indigenous Peoples of South America that stands for community and collaborative work for purposes of social utility or... Read more » |
![]() Global Meeting provides new momentum for mountainspeak to peakThe October 2022 issue of Peak to Peak shares the highlights from the recent Sixth Global Meeting of the Mountain Partnership held on 26-29 September 2022 in Aspen, United States of America. Top news stories include an overview of the high-level discussion on mountains hosted by the Government of Kyrgyzstan... Download » |
![]() United Nations General Assembly Report: Sustainable mountain development (2022)publicationReport of the Secretary-General on Sustainable Mountain Development Download » |
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