Mountains under review - the next step

Mountains cover approximately one-quarter of the world’s surface and are home to approx. 12 % of the global population. Mountains provide freshwater to half of the world’s population and are home to half of all global biodiversity hotspots. On the other hand, mountains are among the regions in the world which are most sensitive to climate change and human impacts.

To date, there is no appropriate mechanism in place for monitoring mountain environments and exchanging up-to-date environmental information between different mountain regions. Such a system would be important for providing accurate briefings to decision-makers covering the global mountain environment.

With this background and as a follow up of the joint side-event “Mountains under review: human alteration of landscapes” organized by UNEP Vienna ISCC in collaboration with EURAC and others at the margins of the Rio+20 Summit in the Mountain Pavilion on 16 June 2012, a special session on mountain's natural resources monitoring was prepared as part of the International Workshop on Integrated Use of Space Technologies for Food and Water Security, organized by United Nations Office in Pakistan, United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs and the Inter-Islamic Network on Space Science and Technology, hosted by Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) on behalf of the Government of Pakistan.

The special session was convened by UNEP Vienna – Interim Secretariat of the Carpathian Convention in collaboration with ICIMOD and EURAC Research with the aim to highlight the need for monitoring mechanism and the various opportunities of satellite-based earth observation for monitoring changes and trends in mountain regions and the need for a comprehensive mountain information database in order to get a better understanding of the impacts of human activities. With focus on snow/glacier/water, biodiversity and the impacts of human land use, the session presented experiences and best-practices besides the HKH from other mountain regions such as the Andes, Alps and Carpathians.

The session was an opportunity for presenting and discussing concrete opportunities, e.g. by highlighting planned joint initiatives and paving the way for possible strategic partnerships with other relevant actors, including in the space sector.

 Review the CONDESAN`s presentation