IMBC-Global Programmes

FAO and Sustainable Mountain Development

Doug McGuire and Thomas Hofer

Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN - Forest Management Division (FOM) Viale delle Terme di Caracalla 00153 ,

Email: [email protected] and [email protected] http://www.mountainpartnership.org and http://www.fao.org

Keywords: FAO; Mountain Partnership; sustainable mountain development; mountain biodiversity

FAO’s focus on mountains is an integral part of its responsibility as the UN specialised agency devoted to raising levels of nutrition, improving agriculture productivity and alleviating poverty and hunger. It also supports the role FAO has been playing as Task Manager of Chapter 13 of UNCED Agenda 21, the blueprint for sustainable mountain development that arose out of the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, and its lead agency role for the International Year of Mountains 2002 (IYM).

The scope of FAO’s work in mountains is broad and extensive. Across its technical departments FAO is addressing the needs of mountain people and mountain environments through its normative work, field programme, direct country support and contribution to global processes and initiatives. Starting in 2003, FAO was tasked by the UN General Assembly to animate the International Mountain Day on 11 December. FAO has also been the host institution of the Mountain Partnership Secretariat since its inception in 2003 and presently hosts the Secretariat’s Central Hub, responsible for global activities and overall coordination.

FAO’s focus on mountains covers the following four areas of work:

Normative Work FAO’s regular programme work on mountain development has included sustainable agriculture and rural development in mountains (SARD-M), watershed management, policy and law, mountain products, focusing on information generation and dissemination, the development of methods, approaches and guidelines, networking and capacity-building. This has involved, inter alia:

ƒ documenting best practices in sustainable mountain development undertaken by FAO and partners

ƒ undertaking a comprehensive global review of current watershed management practice and is engaged in follow-up, and devises technical guidelines, methodologies and tools for watershed management and conservation1

1 See further information on the new generation of watershed management: http://www.fao.org/forestry/site/36420/en/

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IMBC-Global Programmes

ƒ servicing the European Forestry Commission Working Party on the Management of Mountain Watersheds

ƒ encouraging the protection and promotion of high-quality mountain products to improve mountain livelihoods2

ƒ strengthening communication and research networks

ƒ improving the policy environment for sustainable agriculture and rural development in mountain regions, including through the Project for Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development in Mountain Regions (SARD-M project)3

ƒ investigating food insecurity and malnutrition in mountain areas and carries out vulnerability assessments

ƒ charting trends in mountain legislation and assists countries improve mountain policies and laws

ƒ promoting inland capture fisheries and aquaculture in mountain areas

Field Programme FAO provides support to countries in the form of project identification, formulation and technical backstopping related to mountain conservation and development. It assists countries tackle mountain issues through capacity-building, institutional strengthening and pilot field activities.

Projects are currently underway in (TCP), (TCP), Poland (TCP), (SIDA) and Tajikistan (WB). Projects were recently completed in (TCP) and North Korea. Projects are about to start in the Fouta Djallon Highlands of West Africa (GEF) and in (TCP). Work has also included creation of a data base which brings together information on all FAO field projects in mountain and highland areas around the world since 2003. In addition, FAO implements programmes and projects related to mountains in Africa, Asia and Latin America through the FAO Special Programme for Food Security.

Communications and Advocacy FAO is a leading advocate of mountain issues at the international level and plays a key role in the collection and dissemination of knowledge and information on mountain issues to a wide variety of stakeholders. In this role, FAO:

ƒ served as lead coordinating agency for the International Year of Mountains (IYM) in 2002, which was dedicated to protecting mountain ecosystems and improving the well-being of mountain people. The IYM Coordination Unit prepared and implemented a global communications campaign and supported the development of 78 national committees to promote country-level action for sustainable mountain development.

ƒ is lead coordinating agency for UN International Mountain Day. The UN General Assembly designated 11 December, from 2003 onwards, as ‘International Mountain

2 Mountain Products Programme website: http://www.mountainpartnership.org/mpp/index.html

3 see more information on the SARD-M Project at: http://www.fao.org/sard/en/sardm/home/index.html

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IMBC-Global Programmes

Day’ to highlight the global importance of mountain ecosystems and to promote ongoing attention to the unique needs of mountain communities4 ƒ prepares regular reports to the UN General Assembly (UNGA) on sustainable mountain development, reporting on IYM activities (UNGA 57 session, 2002), IYM achievements and follow-up (UNGA 58 session, 2003) and sustainable mountain development (UNGA 60th session, 2005 and UNGA 62nd session, 2007)

Contribution to Global Partnerships, Processes and Initiatives

FAO contributes to a number of global processes and mechanisms such as the Mountain Partnership, the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, the International Consortium on Landslides and the Mountain Research Initiative.

Mountain Partnership Secretariat

The Mountain Partnership was launched at the 2002 World Summit on (WSSD) as a new collaborative mechanism to strengthen cooperation and more effectively address the needs of mountain peoples and protect mountain environments. Since then, the Mountain Partnership has steadily grown to encompass more than 150 members including governments, civil society groups and intergovernmental organizations. Members are working in several thematic areas of mountain development such as watershed management, mountain biodiversity, livelihood improvement, policy and law, governance and others, to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and other agreements related to sustainable mountain development. The goals and priority areas of the Partnership are those listed in paragraph 42 of the WSSD Plan of Implementation.

The Partnership is supported by a long term Secretariat, established at FAO in 2003, which the Governments of Italy and have continued to jointly support.

The Secretariat has recently undergone a decentralization process. The new structure includes FAO (host of the Central hub which is responsible for overall coordination and global level activities), UNEP (host of the Mountain Partnership’s Environmental Reference Centre, ICIMOD (host of the Asia Pacific hub), CIP/Condesan (Latin America Hub) and the Banff Centre (North America Hub). The Secretariat plays a very active role in brokering new collaborative initiatives among the members and facilitating the mobilization of needed resources, advocating for mountain issues at the highest political level and reporting to and keeping alive political support in the UN context (CSD and UNGA).

FAO and Biodiversity

Biodiversity is a very important topic in all technical units of FAO. FAO provides intergovernmental fora where biodiversity-related policy is discussed and relevant agreements negotiated and adopted by member countries. The Organization manages a broad range of programmes and activities to enhance sustainable agricultural systems and management practices, for example the promotion of mixed agricultural systems such as rice-fish farming and agroforestry; participatory training for integrated pest management;

4 UNGA Resolution 57/245, December 2002. Since then, FAO has prepared and distributed communication materials for observance on the Day’s themes: ‘Mountains: Source of Freshwater’ (2003); ‘Peace: key to sustainable mountain development’ (2004); ‘Sustainable Tourism for Poverty Alleviation in Mountain Areas’ (2005); ‘Managing mountain biodiversity for better lives’ (2006)

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pollination management; advice on soil and water conservation; and promotion of technologies and management options of grasslands and forage resources in arid, semi-arid and humid tropical ecosystems. FAO also addresses legal and economic aspects of agricultural biodiversity, and seeks to capitalize on its multidisciplinary expertise through an integrated approach to biodiversity conservation and sustainable use. Through its work as a specialized UN organization, FAO assists countries in the implementation of biodiversity- related agreements of relevance to food and agriculture. These include the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA), the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), and the Convention to Combat Desertification (CCD).

Mountain Biodiversity

The conservation of mountain biological diversity has always received considerable attention in FAO’s mountain programme. For example, FAO was strongly involved in the shaping of the Work Programme on Mountain Biological Diversity of the CBD which was approved by the Conference of the Parties in February 2004: FAO participated in the relevant SBSTTA- meetings and was a member of the ad-hoc technical expert group for the formulation of the work programme.

With the slogan “managing mountain biodiversity for better lives”, mountain biodiversity was the topic of the FAO-lead International Mountain Day 2006. In very close collaboration with the Centre for Development and Environment (CDE) of the University of Bern and the Global Mountain Biodiversity Assessment Programme (GMBA), FAO produced and widely disseminated communication material (information leaflet, flyer, posters) on mountain biological diversity for that Day. The material was used by many countries and institutions to observe the International Mountain Day and to raise awareness about the critical importance of biodiversity in mountain areas for life on earth.

In the context of the Mountain Partnership, a relatively new initiative on Mountain Biodiversity was recently established to address the interest and needs of several members. This has led to an international mountain parks twinning arrangement between the Sagarmatha National Park in and the Gran Paradiso National Park in Italy which will serve to facilitate exchange of information regarding experiences and know-how on the conservation, management and use of biodiversity, especially between stakeholders of the two parks.

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