Mankind depends on mountains, and now, more than ever, mountains depend on us for their protection and care. We know that climate change is real and has the potential to create dramatic changes in the natural order of life on our planet. Mountain ecosystems are some of the first in the world to experience these changes. We also know that globalization is causing major economic shifts and increasing poverty in the remote areas in which we work. It is hard not to sound alarmist when one is, in fact, alarmed, but at The Mountain Institute we are transforming this concern into action by intensifying our responses through our multi-disciplinary and multi-dimensional programs.
On our website, we highlight projects that help mountain communities adapt and build resilience to the unprecedented changes that are occurring as a result of climate change. One of the most conspicuous changes has been the declining availability of water, which, among other problems, inhibits food and electricity production. In central Nepal, TMI is providing immediate relief to drought affected communities through food aid, enterprise development, and water catchment schemes. Other projects, such as the Polylepis Restoration project in Peru and the Reading the Landscape program in Appalachia, are focused on developing long-term solutions and resilience strategies.
Although awareness of the global importance of mountains is growing, mountain issues still tend to be diminished because, to the average person, mountains seem deceptively strong. They are not; they are extremely vulnerable. Much more can be done to engage large downstream populations, organizations, and governments to conserve and understand their dependence on their highland resources.
We must all work together to develop policies, investments, and participatory approaches to enable mountain people, and the billions affected downstream, to understand, harness, and manage the interrelated and complex issues confronting the world’s mountains in the 21st century.
