From the Shepherds of Kyrgyzstan an Example of a Sustainable Model for the Protection of Mountain Ecosystems

The biodiversity of mountain species and habitats is extraordinary. Around 25 of the world's 34 major biodiversity centers are located in mountain regions. Mountains cover just over a quarter of the Earth's surface.

Montagne
The biodiversity of mountain species and habitats is extraordinary. About 25 of the 34 major biodiversity centers in the world are located right in the mountain regions.

Mountains are still a source of life for hundreds of millions of people today. Water from the mountains is essential for life. Every day, about half of the world's population, uses water that originates in the mountains, and two-thirds of the world's agricultural crops depend on mountain outflows.

The biodiversity of mountain species and habitats is extraordinary. About 25 of the 34 major biodiversity centers in the world are located right in the mountain regions. The mountains cover just over a quarter of the Earth's surface, home to 1.1 billion people, many of whom depend on the resources offered by these ecosystems.

The alarm raised at Cop 28 in Dubai

On the occasion of International Mountain Day, the new report published by the Secretariat of the Mountain Partnership of the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) and UNEP (the United Nations Environment Programme) sounds an alarm: climate change and human activities are degrading mountain ecosystems, threatening the lives and livelihoods of the people who inhabit them, the wildlife and the water reserves on which we all depend.

Presented in Dubai at the United Nations Conference on Climate Change (Cop28), the “Restoring mountain ecosystems” report states that “mountain ecosystems are extremely vulnerable to climate changes that manifest themselves in a noticeable way in glacier shrinkage, permafrost thaw, loss of ice cap mass, and decreased snow cover thickness, extent, and duration.”

Mountains, ecosystems
Strategic and integrated interventions are needed to preserve and revitalize these ecosystems on which we all depend.

Human activities are contributing to ecological degradation in many mountain regions, particularly through increased pollution and the presence of microplastics, which have been found even on the highest peaks, including those below the top of Everest.

About 25% of the world's mountain areas are extremely vulnerable to the risk of landslides, and globally the mountains are subject to an increase in extreme events.

In the rural areas of the mountainous regions of developing countries, where one in two inhabitants is already at risk of food insecurity, the loss of ecosystem services provided by the mountains has a devastating impact especially for the most vulnerable groups, such as women and indigenous peoples.

How can the mountain environment be restored?

The United Nations has declared the 2021-2030 period as the Decade for Ecosystem Restoration, with the aim of preventing, stopping, and reversing the degradation of ecosystems. The FAO-UNEP report highlights ecosystem restoration practices that can be applied in mountain regions to develop sustainable projects.

Strategic and integrated interventions are needed to preserve and revitalize these ecosystems on which we all depend. But the restoration of mountain ecosystems is a complex undertaking that requires sustained investment, as well as periodic monitoring and evaluation.

We can and must make use of already available knowledge and tools and proven methods, such as proper soil management, reforestation and habitat improvement for wildlife. Populations living in the mountains must remain at the heart of ecosystem restoration actions and can use many sustainable practices, as the FAO-UNEP report illustrates.

Some examples in the world

An example of success in this field is the programme involving Kyrgyzstan, Rwanda, Serbia and Uganda, carried out under the leadership of UNEP, the Carpathian Convention and the Mountain Partnership. It is a flagship initiative of the United Nations Decade for the Restoration of Mountain Ecosystems and supports large-scale and long-term restoration of mountain ecosystems, while offering sustainable economic opportunities to local populations.

In Kyrgyzstan 14,000 hectares of pastures and glaciers in the Tien-Shan Mountains have been converted into a nature reserve thanks to collaboration between local communities and the local NGO CAMP Alatoo.Today, former hunters and fishermen have become community rangers patrolling the newly established Baiboosun micro-reserve and running phototraps for wildlife monitoring.

Local shepherds for their part have adopted modern grazing techniques that have improved the vegetation and quality of pastures within the reserve.

Thanks to these interventions, the populations of snow leopard and ibex are increasing within the reserve. Many members of the community have embarked on new economic activities, such as making cheeses and making felt souvenirs.

Mountain ecosystems
We can and must make use of already available knowledge and tools and proven methods, such as proper soil management, reforestation and habitat improvement for wildlife.

In the Virunga massif, which extends between the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda, the number of mountain gorillas is steadily increasing.

The species is now classified as "endangered", but no longer "critically endangered" as it did five years ago. Since the 1980s, the number of these gorillas has doubled. Local communities bordering the park are now involved in ecological restoration works and ecotourism, which provides alternative sources of income to poaching.

The isolation and remoteness of the mountain regions must not make us forget the attention they deserve. These initiatives show that a lot can be done to protect these places.

Restoring ecosystems is a way to invest in the future of our mountains and generations to come, preserving local biodiversity and opening up prospects for environmentally sustainable economic growth.