International Symposium on Mountain Economy
Guiyang, China - 6 May 2014
Agenda
• Mountain Partnership
• Why focus on mountains
• Mountain economy
• Culture and traditional knowledge
• Governance
What is the Mountain Partnership?
A United Nations voluntary alliance that brings members together to work towards improving the lives of mountain peoples and protecting mountain environments around the world
Photo: Sajal Sthapit/LI-BIRD
Mountain Partnership
• Launched:
WSSD 2002, Johannesburg
(ITA, SWI, FAO, UNEP)
• Membership: 228
Type 2 alliance
• MPS resource partners:
ITA, SWI, WB, FAO
Mountain Partnership
Governments
Intergovern mental
Organizations
Civil Society Organizations
(CSOs)
Research / Education
Organizations
Private Sector
Entities and Associations
NGOs
Mountain Partnership Secretariat
The Mountain Partnership is supported by a Secretariat which is hosted by Forestry Department of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations in Rome, Italy
Areas of work
Advocacy
Joint action
Knowledge management
& communication
Capacity development
& technology transfer
Resource mobilization
Advocacy
• Increased attention to mountains at national and regional levels
Contribution to CSD and UNSG reports
Contribution to IMD celebrations
• Increased attention to mountains in international negotiations
Rio+20: Paragraphs 210-212!
Mountains in the SDGs
Joint action
• Cuzco, Peru & Dénia, Spain
• Andes mechanism
for transboundary SMD
• VERTEX in North America
• MP African
Champions Committee
• International symposium on mountain economy
Knowledge mgmt & communication
Highlighting members’ activities, updates on events, videos and publications, information sharing through:
• Peak to Peak monthly newsletter
• MP Website
• Social media
YouTube
Flickr
Capacity dev & technology transfer
• Training and capacity development
IPROMO courses
Climate change workshops
• Key publications with partners
Family Farming
Climate change
Mountain forests
Biodiversity
Drylands
Resource mobilization
• Brokering initiatives among partners and donors
• Providing support for filling out funding applications
• Maintaining a funding source database
– currently being updated
• Establishing the Mountain Facility
– ongoing
• GEF projects as implementing agency
• TCP projects, internal FAO funds
Why focus on mountains?
►Mountain peoples are vulnerable
►Early indicators of climate change
►25% of earth’s land surface
►60-80% of freshwater
►>25% of world biodiversity
► Renewable energy
© Zoi Environment Network
Flow of goods & services
Mountain economy
• Economic development in mountains follows a different path than that of the lowlands
• Greater complexity requires a more integrated approach
• Success is associated to valorization
of specificities
Drivers of change
World trends impacting mountains: • globalization • migration • increasing urbanization • growing demand for goods and services • climate change pressure on natural resources serious economic, environmental and social
implications for upstream and downstream populations
Resources and economic potential
60-80% of freshwater
Water
Energy
Mountains are a key source of renewable energy and green economic growth
Hydropower, solar power, wind power
Forests
23% of the world’s forests
Biodiversity
25 out of 34 of the earth’s.....
.....biodiversity hotspots
Small-scale agriculture
• often family-based
• diversified activities and crops
greater variety of nutrients
adaptive, flexible and resilient
• low carbon footprint
• often organic
• high value and quality niche products
Need for investments in access to markets and strengthening of product value chains
Tourism
Mountains attract about 15-20% of global tourism
If sustainably managed: • source of livelihood and income diversification • wildlife habitats, ecosystem and biodiversity preservation • community services and infrastructure improvement • local culture and traditional lifestyle appreciation • responsible tourist behaviour
If poorly managed: • Social impacts • Environmental impacts • Economic impacts
Focus should be on long-term sustainability; institutional support; gender equity; local and national economic integration; local financial incentives; security
Payment for ecosystem services
The incredibly rich fabric of ethnic minorities hosted by mountains is an asset to preserve and value
Adequate mechanisms are needed to support mountain peoples and reward them for the ecosystem services that they traditionally provide to lowland populations
Culture and traditional knowledge
• High capacity to adapt Soil and indigenous seed
varieties conservation Watershed protection Indigenous products • Resilience measures • Adaptation to climate
variability
Mountain communities gained experience and developed solutions to face harsh environments
Threats to mountain communities
• Political, social and economic exclusion of indigenous groups and minorities Exclusion from decisions affecting the
management and use of local resources • Risk of hunger and malnutrition – higher for women
and children • Heavy impact of global trends on social fabric and
incidences of poverty, food insecurity and social conflicts
Sustainable mountain development
Key requirements
• Community-focused
• Participatory governance
• Long-term
sustainability
• Empowerment
of decentralized
authorities
Issues and Challenges
• Persistent poverty and marginalization
• Fragility of mountain ecosystems
• Difficulty of valuating and compensating mountain ecosystem services
• Low level of political attention and commitment
disaggregated mountain-specific data are needed to support advocacy and evidence-based policy making at the local level
Governance
• the needs and priorities of indigenous peoples
• long-term sustainability
• environmental respect
• protection of the rights of local communities
• creation of employment opportunities for mountain peoples
National and local authorities need to develop policies for long-term growth and development based on:
Alto Adige attracts 40% of visitors to the Italian Alps
Thanks to a forward-looking policy, the local population benefits directly
• Sales of houses are strictly regulated Houses are mainly owned by local people
• Local job creation • Safeguard of local identity
Case study – South Tyrol
Conclusions
Achieve a sustainable mountain economy that rewards local communities requires:
• Enabling policy framework
Long-term planning
Direct and strong local community involvement
Local authority empowerment
• Mountain specificities valorization
• Cultural tradition and ecosystem preservation