Context

The International Ministerial Conference on the future of mountain areas aims at rekindling - after the International Year of the Mountain - a genuine international dynamic for voluntary, fair and sustainable development for the mountain territories.

There is still a marked trend for the movement of population into areas where there is an over concentration of businesses and resources in the towns or on the plains, impoverishing and marginalising people living in mountain areas. Social movements, sometimes violent in nature, are emerging, fostered not only by a feeling of abandonment, but also by disapproval, particularly in relation to the distribution of wealth and the management of geographical areas. Moreover, recent natural disasters (the earthquake in Kashmir and the hurricane in Guatemala) illustrate not only the extreme fragility of these areas, the vulnerability of their populations and difficulty in mobilising the international community’s attention and willingness to provide aid, but also the tragically inadequate and temporary nature of the actions taken at that time. This situation constitutes a great source of instability for the member states and a threat to our planet’s demographic, environmental and political balances.

The International Year of the Mountain played a large part in raising awareness of these structural problems. But, without an efficient system of fact-finding, consultation, decision-making and funding at regional national and international levels, the tools created prove ineffective. More than ever, the mountains, which accounts for 35% of the earth’s surface and are inhabited by around a billion people, are a factor to be reckoned with in both North and South. For these populations to be able to live in a dignified and sustainable manner in their own territory and have any hope of bridging the territorial divide that separates them from the plains, a divide stemming from unequal access to resources, services, markets and decision-making on matters that concern them, the mountains must henceforth be viewed as an international geopolitical entity in their own right with national and international institutions responding appropriately to their distinctive social, economic and environmental needs.

The Conference's aim is to encourage both the mountain countries and the international community to develop permanent and effective tools to implement concretely the Charter for World Mountain Populations (adopted in Quito in 2002 by WMPA's members) and the Millennium Development Goals. To this end invitations to participate in the conference will be issued not only to the governments of the world’s principal countries but also the main international organisations committed to development policies and environmental questions, such as the World Bank, FAO, UNESCO, UN and IMF, and those whose decisions have a crucial impact on these territories, such as the WTO. The Conference will be prepared and organised in close consultation with the institutions concerned with the future of the mountains, such as the International Mountain Partnership.

As part of a global process of decentralisation whereby local and regional stakeholders assume greater responsibility, representatives of the populations in question, NGOs and socio-professional groups, researchers and specialists must each find their rightful place in the stages of deliberation and decision making. The World Mountain People Association (WMPA) which unites all these stakeholders in more than 70 countries undertakes consultations in every major mountain area (Andes, Africa, Europe and Himalayas) in order to identify opportunities for action.

Three principal goals were identified in addition to the main recommendations of the executive summary of the International Year of the Mountain :

• Getting to know the mountains:

In order to arrive at a real thorough understanding of mountain areas and their development, at all levels and in all specific areas of investigation, it is proposed that an International Research Institute for Mountains be created.

In close collaboration with existing research and development institutions in mountain areas and with others that are planned but have not yet started work, the role of this Research Institute will be to compile, harmonise and exchange all research material, data and measures relating to mountain areas and their relationships with other geographical areas.

• Taking action on behalf of mountain areas:

The major challenge is to reverse the impoverishment and loss of population experienced within mountain areas. In accordance with Goal 1 (“to reduce extreme poverty and hunger”) and 7 (“to ensure sustainable environment”) of the Millennium Development Goals, we need to identify conditions and means to sustain life for the maintenance of populations in mountain zones and the collective management of  geographical areas.

In collaboration with representatives of the populations, every member state must examine customary practices and existing laws, in order to develop appropriate national legislation; then proceed to establish arrangements enabling local stakeholders to become responsible for their own destinies, and to take into account every dimension of the mountain environment and to support suitably differentiated policies. These policies must also take into account the costs and constraints posed by the needs and expectations of the populations who live on the lower slopes of mountain areas (water, wood, biodiversity, leisure activities, etc.).

At an international level, the challenges are on the one hand to define international trading rules adapted to the conditions of production in  mountain areas and on the other to implement cross-cutting policies through support programmes to stakeholders in mountain zones adapted to the entirety of the problems in their areas, in particular by introducing explicitly a “mountains” category into current programmes and invitations to tender of organisations such as UNDP, UNEP, EUROPAID and the World Bank.

• Living in the mountains:

The challenge is to put in place conditions which will enable mountain populations to live and allow their cultures to develop in their own way. This is the only way that a universal “mountain identity” can survive and play its part in the global creation of human values, cultural heritage and exchanges. These cultures constitute ways of living and managing territories, that is to say ways of life, production, practical skills, knowledge and expertise.

A proposal will thus be put forward to create and federate Regional Centres for Exchange and Cooperation in Mountain Areas in collaboration with the International Research Instititute for Mountain Areas.  The role of these centres will be to revive, promote and transmit these cultures locally and also facilitate their circulation between different mountain communities. They will also be training centres for mountain activities (agro-grazing, crafts, sustainable tourism, management of resources etc.).

The Conference will conclude with a Final Declaration by which governments and international organisations will express their willingness to take long-term action on behalf of the mountains and to implement these proposals. This Declaration will be presented to the United Nations and will be reviewed annually as part of the follow-up to the Millennium Development Goals.