Water
Each day, one of every two people on the planet quenches his thirst with water that originates in mountains. And as the world population swells to an estimated 9.6 billion by 2050, the worldwide demand for freshwater will continue to soar.
More than half of humanity relies on mountain freshwater for everyday life. The ten largest rivers originating in the Hindu Kush Himalayas alone supply water to over 1.35 billion people. Some of the world’s largest cities, including New York, Rio de Janeiro, Nairobi, Tokyo and Melbourne, are dependent on freshwater from mountains.
Climate change is already causing more than 600 glaciers to disappear, resulting in springs and rivers drying up. Greater frequency of extreme weather events, droughts and floods, including flash floods and glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs), are also expected to increase in mountains, causing imbalance between current water supply and demand.
Given the importance of mountain water resources worldwide, the careful management of mountain water resources is a global priority. Water management practices need to be adapted to different climatic zones, using locally adapted soil and water management techniques. Most importantly, watershed management must take into account the needs of all those who depend on mountain water, including those who have the greatest stake in preserving healthy mountain ecosystems – people who live in mountain areas themselves, who are often marginalized from the decision-making processes.
Workshop on mountain transboundary cooperationnewsMountain transboundary cooperation was the topic of a one-day expert workshop organized by the Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy (DG REGIO) of the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium, on 9 November 2018. The seminar was attended by approximately 120 participants from EU Institutions, interregional programmes, international organizations and representatives of...
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Leaving No One in Mountains BehindpublicationThe MRI and the Center for Development and Environment (CDE) present initial steps towards localization of the 2030 Agenda to mountain areas. To support this localization process, expert assessments were were conducted in Nepal, Uganda, Kyrgyzstan, Ecuador, and Switzerland based on the following questions: What SDG targets have a high priority in... Download » |
Caucasus Mountain Forum 2018eventThe second Caucasus Mountain Forum, organized by the Scientific Network for the Caucasus Region under the theme “The Caucasus Research Agenda – a Key to Sustainable Regional Development”, will be held from 30 October to 2 November 2018 in Ankara, Turkey. The 2018 Caucasus Mountain Forum theme encompasses the subject...
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Mountaineering in PakistannewsThe first course of “The Swat Project,” took place last month, where instructors of Mountain Wilderness International (Asian Desk) went to Pakistan to run an eco-compatible mountaineering course for young locals of the mountainous Swat region. The course was the first stage of what is known as “The...
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World Mountain Forum 2018eventUnder the theme “Mountains in a changing world: strengthening partnership and pathways towards a thriving mountain future”, the fourth World Mountain Forum will be held on 23–26 October 2018, in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, hosted by the Government of Kyrgyzstan with support from the Government of Switzerland, the...
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Forum Carpaticum 2018eventThe Forum Carpaticum is an open meeting of the Science for the Carpathians (S4C) initiative that occurs every two years. The fifth Forum Carpaticum will cover a wide range of topics related to sustainability in the Carpathians, including land cover and land-use change, renewable energy, climate change vulnerability assessment and...
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