What a better day to start the MASPIRINEO blog than today, December 11, International Mountain Day, declared by the United Nations General Assembly on December 22, 2002, to emphasize the importance of sustainable mountain development.
This year’s theme is “Women Move Mountains,” an excellent opportunity to give visibility to the work of women as “custodians of mountain resources, custodians of biodiversity, custodians of local culture and experts in traditional medicine.”
But let’s take it one step at a time, because perhaps the best way to appreciate these “natural gems” we call mountains, and those who inhabit them, is to know some important facts. For example, Did you know that mountains are home to 15% of the world’s population? That they provide between 60 and 80% of the world’s fresh water? That they are home of more or less half of the world’s biological diversity reserve? Or that 20 plant species that provide 80% of the world’s food, 6 are native to the mountains? That is why this day is also an opportunity to reflect on the role we play in the face of threats such as climate change, natural disasters or melting glaciers…. which threaten the survival of mountains and are a problem that concerns us ALL. Today is International Mountain Day, and it should be for the other 364 days of the year, and not only for the mountains but also for those who live in them and contribute to their maintenance, development… The day of the mountain men and women ‘of old’ : tough, solitary, introverted, resistant, used since childhood to take care of cattle and fields, who were born in the mountains and will die in them and for them, but also those who, despite the difficulties, decided to undertake in their mountain village, in their own village, to live and work in the mountains, have decided to create a business in their mountain village, as is the case of Chemary Carrera, who more than 20 years ago created the mountain ski school, MASPIRINEO, in Chía, the village where he was born, or those who, thanks to digitization, training, resources or services, have been able to choose the mountains to launch a new life project. The 2022 is the International Year of Sustainable Mountain Development and women, those “women who move the mountains”, have always been a fundamental tool for their protection and economic and social development: pillars of the family, farmers, stockbreeders, artisans, …. and, of course, guardians and transmitters of the wisdom of the mountain people. Happy International Mountain Day to all those who, living or enjoying them, contribute to their maintenance
