Experience has taught us that the key to protection of mountain environments is a partnership between the people who live in the mountains and the people who use or manage mountain resources. The Mountain Institute builds these partnerships.

TMI's programs work to improve the livelihoods of people living in remote mountain regions; use the mountains as a learning environment for mountain leaders of all ages; undertake rigorous research and protection of habitat for some of the world's most endangered and unique animals, such as the huge Andean Condor considered by the ancient Inca as a messenger of the gods, and the beautiful and elusive snow leopard of the Himalaya, and promote conservation of natural resources and traditional cultures in mountain regions around the world.

TMI's large-scale programs are effective models of environmental conservation, community-based economic development, and promotion of cultural heritage. Our programs work in partnership with governments, agencies, organizations, and communities, striving to enhance people's ability to move toward their own image of the future. Most staff members are native to the mountain ranges where they work, with the Institute promoting exchanges of people, ideas and information from area to area.

Natural Resource Conservation

Mountains are often the world's "hotspots" of biodiversity, rich in timber, water, and mineral resources that can attract severe development pressures to fragile areas. Mountain people themselves live close to the land; and their farming, grazing, hunting and woodcutting creates a delicate balance between sustainability and destruction. The growing lure of mountains as tourist destinations places additional strains on infrastructure and ecosystems.

To minimize the effects of these recognized threats, The Mountain Institute works in partnership with many established and emerging mountain parks and protected areas worldwide to jointly create innovative and effective means of conserving unique ecosystems and species.

To the east of Mount Everest in the Himalaya of Asia, we helped establish the Makalu-Barun National Park and Conservation Area, a model for conservation and development that involves the participation of indigenous people living in and around the area.

Recognizing the transboundary needs for conservation in the Himalayas, we joined regional and national partners to help establish the Qomolangma (Cho · mo · langma) Nature Preserve in the Tibet Autonomous Region, PR China, creating a combined network of protection for the Mount Everest region, which is roughly the size of Switzerland.

On the highest point of West Virginia, TMI's Spruce Knob Mountain Center offers programs in conservation, ecology, and wilderness training in an area that harbors one of the greatest concentrations of biological diversity in the US.

Programs in Langtang National Park, Nepal, and in the state of Sikkim in northeast India are focusing on ecotourism as a means of improving people's lives while preserving their environments.

In the Andes mountains of Peru, The Mountain Institute works to strengthen local efforts at managing the resources of Huascarán National Park, an established tourist destination facing increasing development pressures. In 2003 TMI produced a Management Plan for the Park and its incredibly rich array of flora and fauna.

Cultural Conservation

Many mountain cultures are relatively undisturbed by global scale economic or social forces and remain rich in tradition and indigenous knowledge. TMI's programs promote cultural conservation through new enterprises build on traditional handicraft techniques in the Andes and the Himalayas, interpretative trail markers in protected areas in Nepal, Peru and US National Parks, and restoration of ancient monasteries and road systems like the Inca Road.

The people of the Island of the Sun display the ancient Inca artifacts found in Lake Titicaca, Bolivia, at the site of their discovery.

Eco-tourism planning for Huascarán National Park in Peru includes consideration and conservation of the many archaeological sites that will no doubt draw the curious to the region.