2002: International Year of Mountains
The UN aims to turn the spotlight on the threat to mountain regions this year
In a move to highlight the plight of mountain areas, the United Nations has declared 2002 to be the "Year of the Mountain". Last week the UN said that war, conflicts, ill-considered development and the poverty of mountain peoples, were leading to the decimation of mountain ecosystems and the species which depend upon them.
Due to man's input mountain forests across the globe are disappearing, mountain rivers are being polluted, species are being threatened and indigenous ways of life are being lost. Specific examples of damage include acid rain stunting red spruce forests in New York's Adirondack Park, the winter refuge for the world's population of monarch butterflies in the mountain forests of Mexico is being lost, and gorilla numbers in Africa have been impacted upon by decades of war.
It is war that the UN recognises as the most significant threat to mountain regions, not least because of the ensuing poverty that destroys mountain villages. The Director-General of the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), Jacques Diouf, commented, "Conflict may be the single greatest obstacle to achieving our goals.... Without peace, we cannot ensure secure food supplies. Without peace, we cannot even consider sustainable development."
Besides the issue of war, the UN wants to see a balance being struck between bringing economic growth and supporting the environment, "One key to lasting solutions will be effective cooperation between mountain communities, tourism operators, environmentalists and the private sector." Kofi Annan commented at the UN press conference last week. "Everyone has a stake in ensuring that the world's mountain regions continue to provide their riches for many generations to come," added Annan. "This is a challenge the world's peoples can and must scale together."
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