WHAT IS THE INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF MOUNTAINS 2002?

2002 has been designated the "International Year of Mountains" by the General Assembly of the United Nations, with the mission statement of "promoting the conservation and sustainable development of mountain regions, thereby ensuring the well-being of mountain and lowland communities." The UN's guidelines for International Years stipulate that the subject should be one of priority concern to all or the majority of countries, that it should involve action at all levels, that it should contribute to the development of international co-operation and world peace, and that it should generate significant follow-up action in the longer term.

The broad aims of the International Year of Mountains are:

• to ensure the present and future well-being of mountain communities by promoting conservation and sustainable development in mountain areas;
• to increase awareness of, and knowledge on, mountain ecosystems, their dynamics and functioning, and their overriding importance in providing a number of strategic goods and services essential to the well-being of both rural and urban, highland and lowland people, particularly water supply and food security;
• to promote and defend the cultural heritage of mountain communities and societies;
• to pay attention to frequent conflicts in mountain areas and to promote peace-making in those regions.

A key theme of the IYM is that "we are all mountain people" - regardless of whether we live, work or spend our free time in the mountains, we are all dependent upon them, in much the same way as we are upon oceans and rainforests. The initial "concept paper" objectives stated above have broadened in order to encompass benefit to lowland communities in recognition of the interdependence between mountains and lowlands. Globally, mountain areas constitute nearly a quarter of the world's land surface. Water, energy, minerals, timber and agricultural produce are among the mountain "products" that most of us use on a daily basis.

This is another of the reasons why the UN declared 2002 as International Year of Mountains - ten years on from the Rio Earth Summit, Agenda 21 is a familiar concept but less well-known is that Agenda 21's Chapter 13 is devoted to mountains as fragile ecosystems and their sustainable management. Next year sees the "Rio plus ten" summit in Johannesburg to assess what progress has been made since Rio and establish future directions. This provides a link between the smallest IYM event in Scotland and taking forward sustainable development on a global basis. "Thinking globally and acting locally" remains at least as cogent as today as it did ten years ago.

Hopefully we can all play a part in promoting sustainable development in our "own" mountains and those of the rest of the world.