International Mountain Day: Restoring mountain ecosystems
The UN General Assembly proclaimed 2002 as the International Year of Mountains and 11 December as International Mountain Day, but 10 years earlier the United Nations had already approved an action plan ‘Agenda 21’ which included a section on ‘Management of Fragile Systems: sustainable development of mountain areas’.
Women, sustainable tourism and biodiversity have been some of the themes that have been dealt with in recent years to commemorate this event. In 2023 the theme of the International Mountain Day is the ‘Restoration of mountain ecosystems’. The aim is to focus on the importance of mountain ecosystems and to raise awareness of their relevance, to call for solutions, investments and best practices to reduce vulnerability and increase the capacity of mountains to adapt to an uncertain future, with daily threats and extreme weather events.
Did you know that…?
- About 27% of the earth’s surface is covered by mountains
- Nearly one billion people (15% of the world’s population) live in mountains
- More than half of the world’s population depends on mountains for water, food and energy
- Mountains provide 60-80% of the planet’s freshwater
