Publications
Experts and officials from the 187 Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity met in Montreal, Canada from March 10-14 to assess the current status of mountain biological diversity, as well as the human pressures on mountain ecosystems. Mountains cover one-fourth of the Earth's surface and are home to one-eighth of the human population. Half of humanity relies on mountain ecosystems for...
The production and marketing of natural drugs is hindered by the confusion over who holds the property rights for living organisms (the life) and thus by the difficulty producers encounter in obtaining patents to protect their investments.
The high mountains of the world represent one of the most extreme environments on our planet. Yet they are of immense value to mankind as sources of food, fibre, minerals and water; and they are rich in a variety of living natural resources. Though mountainous regions stand above their surroundings, usually more densely populated plains, they are linked to them in numerous ways,...
This paper details the articles from the convention.
The convention states the need for:
recognising that wild fauna and flora in their many beautiful and varied forms are an irreplaceable part of the natural systems of the earth which must be protected for this and the generations to come;
conscious of the ever-growing value of wild fauna and flora from aesthetic, scientific, cultural, recreational and economic points of view;...
Since 1990 interest in mountains has received an impetus with the establishment of the IUCN Commission on Mountain Protected Areas and the inclusion of Article 13 (Fragile Mountain Environments) of Agenda 21 at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED). Today there is growing awareness at policy, research and activist levels that the well-being of lowland areas is...
Human land use has largely influenced today's environment from lowlands to many high mountain tops. The perceived all-pervasive imperative of development is likely to cause further major alterations and degradation of many high mountain ecosystems. Biodiversity loss and nature conservation are recognised issues, however, their relative importance in relation to development issues is low. It is...
The GAC (Global Area Coverage) by the NOAA-AVHRR satellites represents an excellent data set for studying global and regional patterns of variations in surface conditions driven in part by climatic variation. In this pilot study we examined whether biodiversity 'hotspots', defined from peak concentrations of neoendemics as well as geographically relict forms, differ in ecoclimatic stability from...
Although levels of biological diversity may seem to be equivalent in different areas, diversity is created and maintained by a range of different processes: overlap of habitat on gradients; a dynamic mosaic of communities; and accumulation and evolution of taxa in extremely stable areas. These different communities will respond in very different ways to disturbance. The most fragile are those...
The paper looks at conservation, sustainable use and benefit sharing. It considers the 'ecosystem approach', looks at protected areas and the restoration, rehabilitation of degraded ecosystems and recovery of species as well as management of invasive and alien species. The traditional knowledge of local and indigenous communities is considered. Options for sustainable use including sustainable...