WHAT IS ASIA PACIFIC MOUNTAIN NETWORK

WHAT IS ASIA PACIFIC
MOUNTAIN NETWORK (APMN)?

- A voluntary Asia/Pacific node of
the Mountain Forum,
- An ongoing Swiss-funded project of ICIMOD,
-A pan-Asia/Pacific knowledge network

MISSION

To generate, aggregate, and disseminate knowledge for sustainable development of upland and mountain areas of Asia/Pacific as well as to facilitate networking amongst the members and subscribers of this knowledge network for the same.

OBJECTIVE

APMN’s main objective is to focus on generation, aggregation and dissemination of knowledge on the issues recommended by the Sustainable Development of Mountain Areas of Asia (SUDEMAA) of Conference of December 1994:

poverty reduction and economic development
sustainable management of natural resources;
gender-balanced decision-making in
environment and development policies and programmes;
preservation of cultural heritage; and
reducing the vulnerability to mountain disasters

SERVICES

a) Knowledge Generating/Disseminating
MF-Asia Discussion List; Electronic Conferences; APMN Home Page; APMN publications; preparation of information kits for mass media (radio, TV, newspapers, etc)

b) Partnership Building/Institutional Strengthening
Regional meetings, workshops and consultations to facilitate dialogue on critical mountain-related issues; Capacity Building; Project implementation with partners

c) Support/Advocacy
Supports sustainable mountain development initiatives; promotes the Mountain Agenda (SUDEMAA Call to Action, and Chapter 13 of Agenda 21 that came out of the Rio Earth Summit)

(ICIMOD, based in Kathmandu, Nepal, co-ordinates all the activities of the APMN. Membership in MF-APMN is free and open to all.)

For related APMN documents, please visit

*SUDEMAA Call to Action
*UPDATED SUDEMAA Country Statements

APMN EVOLVES

The landmark 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), a.k.a. the Rio Earth Summit, prompted the setting up of a number of regional and worldwide institutions to protect and conserve the environment, including a set of programmes to address the particular problems of mountain areas. The first-ever conference on Asia's mountains, entitled 'The Sustainable Development of Fragile Mountain Areas of Asia', was held in Kathmandu, Nepal, in December 1994. This conference brought together high level policymakers and other stakeholders from across the region. Its main outcome was the adoption of the SUstainable DEvelopment of Fragile Mountain Areas of Asia Declaration, otherwise known as the 'SUDEMAA Call to Action.' This document called upon countries of the region to place development of their mountain areas higher on their policy agendas. The meeting decided that the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) would facilitate information exchange about Asia/Pacific mountain areas.

These activities led to the formation of the Asia Pacific Mountain Network (APMN) in November 1995. APMN is primarily an electronic network as well as a regional node of the Mountain Forum (now hosted by ICIMOD). APMN is coordinated by ICIMOD with financial support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. It was set up to act as an electronic meeting place for organisations and individuals concerned with mountain development, to generate and disseminate information about the region's mountains, and to publicise and push forward the mountain agenda.

APMN's remit is to work to promote collaboration among the mountain countries of Asia/Pacific by sharing experiences, information, policies, technologies, methodologies, and management systems issues related to sustainable mountain development. These issues are: poverty eradication and economic development,; the sustainable management of natural resources; gender-balanced decision-making in environment and development policies and programmes; the preservation of cultural heritage; and reducing vulnerability to mountain disasters. The network aims to build the capacity of individuals and organisations involved in mountain development in the region to address these issues.

PHASE I and II

Phase I ran from 1995 to 1998, and Phase II is planned from 1999 to April 2002. During Phase I, the APMN Secretariat was established within ICIMOD and six sub-regional focal points were set up across the region. At the end of Phase I, APMN has grown into a network of about 200 individuals and organisations, by early 2001 about 1,000 members worldwide, with about 725 subscribed to the Mountain Forum Asia discussion list.

The network has been involved in a wide variety of activities aimed at promoting the regional and global exchange of ideas of about mountain development. The network has facilitated a number of organisations and professionals involved in mountain development to share, exchange, and disseminate information on mountain concerns. It has supported study tours and exchange visits, enabled regional mountain professionals to participate in regional and global meetings, promoted academic contacts, organised training courses, workshops, and e-conferences, and commissioned studies and publications. It also co-organised a brief presentation about the Mountain Forum and APMN for Kathmandu-based donors. In Phase I, two departments in the Ministry of Agriculture in Bhutan were helped with the automation of documentation centres and staff training to facilitate participation from this area.

APMN has forged strong links with Central Asian institutions. In 2000, it held a sub-regional seminar on sustainable mountain development issues in Kyrgyzstan and a training course for mountain professionals from Central Asia in 'Internet Technologies and Web Publishing' with participants from Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan. Ten ITrain Manuals were translated into Russian for this purpose. In January 2000, the network financed the visit of Professor Usubamatov, director of Kyrgyzstan's National Centre for the Development of Mountain Regions in Kyrgyzstan (NCDMRK) to APMN/ICIMOD, thus facilitating face-to-face contact between representatives of two institutions with an important role in mountain development. Network links with Kyrygyzstan were further strengthened when the International University of Kyrgyzstan to push for the International Year of Mountains 2002.

The network has contributed regularly to the e-discussions on mountain issues through the Mountain Forum-Asia discussion list. A regional electronic conference on 'The Intervention of Technology in Mountain Areas: Strategies for Developing Fresh Approaches for the Mainstreaming of Local Innovations in the Asia-Pacific Region' was held in early 2001.

The network helped to develop regional databases on mountain systems and mountain research. APMN's homepage has become an important source of information for mountain development issues.

The network has set up a small grants programme, which has funded 14 organisations so far to carry out projects in keeping with APMN's vision.

APMN has published brochures and bulletins to disseminate information about the region's mountains and supported production of documentary films and feature articles about mountain development issues. These include a study by Dr. Harka Gurung on 'Mountains of Asia: A Regional Inventory' with a companion booklet entitled 'On the Map: The Mountains of Asia'; 'Tough Terrain: Media Reports on Mountain Issues', a compilation of features from the print media published together with PANOS South Asia; APMN Bulletins and issues of Mountain Voices (Nepali: 'Himal Ko Awaz') in English and Nepali, featuring discussions on topical issues in mountain development; and ten posters to highlight issues in mountain development.

As its regional network, APMN has played an important role in facilitating the work of the global Mountain Forum. It hosted the international Mountain Forum interim facilitating committee in November 1997, and served as the Secretariat of the Mountain Forum from 1998-2000. It produced the 'Mountain Forum - a Four-Year Vision (1998-2001)' statement and has contributed to the Mountain Forum Bulletin. Roughly 1,050 APMN members are also enlisted in the Mountain Forum, comprising roughly 48% of its total membership count.

In July 1998 the Secretary General of the UN made particular mention of the work of APMN, pointing out that APMN's work in organising the regional consultation in Central Asia should serve as a model for other regional consultations in preparation for the International Year of Mountains ¹.

THE FUTURE

In Phase III, which will run from 2003, APMN intends to work on encouraging grassroots participation in the network and, in words of Dr. Klass Jan Beek, 'travel the last mile to the farm gate.' The network is now firmly established and integrated within the Mountain Forum. With the goodwill of its partner institutions it is set to reach out to the grassroots level by diversifying its off-line outreach activities through the Alternative Media project. It will also be targeting the younger generation - through its Prem Panda initiative - by building upon the initiative of the children's book written by young people from the mountain areas of Asia/Pacific. It is also exploring to create a policy e-network, a proto cyber 'think tank’ for discussions of mountain-specific critical NRM issues, generation and dissemination of ‘policy briefs’ and follow-up for sustainable mountain development. It also hopes to enrich its interventions in Central Asia by creating a sub-node of Mountain Forum there.

¹ Source: United Nations Economic and Social Council, Substantive session of 1998 New York, 6-31 July 1998. Item 7(e) of the provisional agenda. Report of the Secretary-General: Coordination, programme and other questions: proclamation of an international year of mountains