Rio+20 & Mountains

See the main references of Rio+20 Summit on the conservation of mountains at paragraphs 210 to 212 of the Rio+20 final document, page 41:

Mountains
210. We recognize that the benefits derived from mountain regions are essential for
sustainable development. Mountain ecosystems play a crucial role in providing
water resources to a large portion of the world’s population; fragile mountain
ecosystems are particularly vulnerable to the adverse impacts of climate change,
deforestation and forest degradation, land use change, land degradation and natural
disasters; and mountain glaciers around the world are retreating and getting thinner,
with increasing impacts on the environment and human well-being.

211. We further recognize that mountains are often home to communities, including
indigenous peoples and local communities, who have developed sustainable uses of
mountain resources. These communities are, however, often marginalized, and we
therefore stress that continued effort will be required to address poverty, food
security and nutrition, social exclusion and environmental degradation in these
areas. We invite States to strengthen cooperative action with effective involvement
and sharing of experience of all relevant stakeholders, by strengthening existing
arrangements, agreements and centres of excellence for sustainable mountain
development, as well as exploring new arrangements and agreements, as
appropriate.

212. We call for greater efforts towards the conservation of mountain ecosystems,
including their biodiversity. We encourage States to adopt a long-term vision and
holistic approaches, including through incorporating mountain-specific policies into
national sustainable development strategies, which could include, inter alia, poverty
reduction plans and programmes for mountain areas, particularly in developing
countries. In this regard, we call for international support for sustainable mountain
development in developing countries.

For comments & suggestions on the blog…

Xabier Ezeizabarrena. Email: bcpecsaj@ehu.es