About Mountain Biodiversity

What is mountain biodiversity
Many mountain ecosystems are host to higher species richness and levels of endemism than adjacent lowlands. Mountains at lower altitudes can support exceptional biodiversity, due to compression of a wide range of ecosystems into a relatively short distance. Mountains also often provide islands of suitable habitat, isolated from unfavourable surrounding lowlands. More »
Importance
Mountain environments cover some 27% of the world’s land surface, and directly support the 22% of the world’s people who live within mountain regions. Lowland people also depend on mountain environments for a wide range of goods and services, including water, energy, timber, biodiversity maintenance, and opportunities for recreation and spiritual renewal. Mountains provide for the freshwater needs of more than half of humanity, and are, in effect, the water towers of the world. More »
What's the problem
Mountain biodiversity faces a number of serious and growing challenges.
Habitat degradation caused by unsustainable clearing of land results in erosion of fertile soil and increases the threat of avalanches, landslides and flooding. With this change in habitat, rare species of plants and animals can face extinction. This environmental degradation often means increasing poverty and hunger for mountain people, already amongst the world’s poorest and hungriest. As resources become scarce, conflicts over their use can arise. Many men, women and families have no choice but to migrate to lowland cities. Mountain communities disintegrate and entire cultures and languages disappear. More »
What needs to be done
Parties should implement the programme of work on mountain biological diversity in the context of their national and sub-national priorities. At its seventh meeting, the Conference of the Parties adopted a programme of work on mountain biological diversity as a set of actions addressing characteristics and problems that are specific to mountain ecosystems. The decision underlined the sovereign rights and responsibilities of countries over their mountains and mountain biodiversity and noted that Parties should implement the programme of work on mountain biological diversity in the context of their national and sub-national priorities. More »