The United Nations declared the year 2002 to be the International Year of Mountains (IYM), which culminated with the Global Mountain Summit held last month in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. The summit adopted a platform and declared a commitment to an international partnership for sustainable mountain development. DevNews looks at the issues of mountains and development.

December 16, 2002—While everybody knows that rainforests are endangered ecosystems, few people realize mountains are also vulnerable to degradation. Covering 25 percent of the Earth’s land surface, they are home to 12 percent of the population (700 million) and also supply fresh water to almost half of the world.

Difficulties in constructing infrastructure in harsh climatic conditions, which are aggravated by unsustainable resource use, make mountains some of the least developed places on Earth. About half of the world’s mountainous population lives under a constant threat of poverty and is regularly exposed to natural catastrophes. Unique and complex ecosystems, mountains also house numerous endemic animals and plants, some of which are endangered species.

"Tackling poverty while preserving biodiversity under often harsh and unpredictable climatic conditions poses a special challenge to the international development community," said Kristalina Georgieva, World Bank Director of Environment Department.

"Without a successful solution to these unique development problems, mountain people will continue to suffer from low standards of living, and risk losing their indigenous knowledge as they abandon traditional ways of life."

Recognizing the many roles mountains play as a global public good, the World Bank has invested more than $1.3 billion over the past decade in more than 90 projects that focus on conserving biodiversity as well as devising a sustainable approach to mountain development.

World Bank mountain development projects include establishing and strengthening protected areas and biological corridors, improving their management, and promoting community awareness and management.

The projects also promote alternate livelihoods, such as honey and medicinal plants cultivation or ecotourism, to improve economic opportunities of marginalized mountain people while preserving biodiversity.

Since international borders often lie along mountain ranges, the Bank supports trans-border initiatives and cooperation to strengthen biodiversity protection and ensure more effective land management.

"These transnational projects encourage mutual understanding, cooperation and exchange of information and expertise," said Georgieva.

An example of such a project is the Central Asia Transboundary Biodiversity Project that seeks to improve the protection and management of the West Tien-Shan mountain range and promote sustainable land use management and ecotourism in the transborder region of the Kyrgyz Republic, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan.

Also, as one of the three implementing agencies of the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the World Bank has supported the establishment and operation of more than 23 Environmental Trust Funds, which support recurrent costs for parks and other biodiversity projects in countries where they have been operating. Many support mountain parks in critically important watersheds all around the world.

Useful Links: For more information about the Bank’s work in biodiversity, please visit: http://www.worldbank.org/biodiversity