Epilogue The Andes, a Precious Example of a Geographical Mountain Portrait Bruno Messerli 1 Introduction Being interested in the research on climate-related problems of Mediterranean mountain regions after the This is probably the first time that such a comprehensive last Pleistocene glaciation period, the Free University of book on the Andes appears in German. The content adheres Berlin invited me to spend a semester in its Tibesti moun- to a truly geographical framework, in which the factors and tain research station to pursue my interest in this topic fur- spaces of the natural environment are portrayed and are pre- ther. In the Tibesti Massif, we reached the highest summits sented in their interactions with anthropogenic structures in the northern and southern parts by a small camel caravan. and processes. This gives the reader a genuine understand- Almost at the same time, a French research team investigated ing of relationships and dependencies. It is my contention similar topics and came to comparable results in the Hoggar that there should also be a great interest to translate this Mountains. Later we continued our studies in the mountains book into Spanish. of eastern Africa: in 1974 in the 4,000 m high summit regions I emphasize this because I became aware at the first of Ethiopia; and in 1976 on Mt Kenia (5,195 m). Until today, Andean Conference in 1991 that the scientists of the research and development projects are carried out by the Andean countries were more closely connected and had Geography Department of the University of Berne in this area. more research cooperations with European and North- In the research focus on the mountains from the Alps to American scholars than with those from their neighbour- the Equator, the arid belt of the Sahara posed some major ing countries. At that time, we looked in vain for a scientist open questions relating to the oscillations of the monsoon from an Andean country who could deliver an opening system and the related climatic changes. Intriguing evi- address presenting a broad overview of the entire Andean dences for this are the rock paintings in the Sahara and the realm. We realized that there existed few transnational former impressively large Lake Chad extending to the foot projects and that there was a lack of financial resources for of the Tibesti Massif. The Emi Koussi Volcano (3,415 m) is doing research in another country. In this situation we had the highest summit of Tibesti. An interesting question was to rely on Wilhelm Lauer from the Geography Department for us whether this peak had been glaciated sometime in the of the University of Bonn, an expert on the natural environ- past, or whether the aridity would have prevented this, even ment of the entire Andean region. if the mountain would have been higher in the past. This situation has fundamentally changed since 1991, as In search for an answer to this intriguing question, I can be demonstrated by referring to the five international found by chance a publication of the French glaciologist Andean Conferences until 2005. With our engagement for Lliboutry (1956). Here I quote Lliboutry, freely translated: the Andes, we not only pursue scientific objectives but also “From the glaciated Sajama in Bolivia (6,520 m; ca. 18°S) the goal for an effective transnational cooperation and the to the Llullaillaco, Chile (6,723 m; ca. 24°S), no peren- promotion of a dialogue between science and politics. nial ice cover exists. But during the first ascent of the Lllullaillaco on December 1, 1952, Bion Gonzales and Juan Harseim observed an ice field on the western slope 2 Scientific Objectives between 5,600 and 6,500 m,” (Lliboutry 1956: 305 f.). This rather casual observation triggered in me an urgent Immediately after my term of office as President of the desire for more precise research on the glaciations of the University of Berne in 1988, I decided to pursue yet another Llullaillaco. As in the Sahara, the principal aim of the research project to further investigate open questions ema- study was to make a contribution to the climate history of nating from my previous studies. This required intensive this exciting arid belt located between the regions affected field investigations. by the tropical, monsoon-like rains to the northeast, and A. Borsdorf and C. Stadel, The Andes, Springer Geography, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-03530-7 323 © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2015 324 Epilogue the realm located to the southwest influenced by the win- proposal to establish an African Mountain Association was ter precipitations of westerly winds. Furthermore, we unanimously supported by the participants. Its voluntary pursued some comparable research questions we had left and unfunded Secretariat was established in Addis Ababa. open during our investigations on the highest summits of Hans Hurni, the later Director of the North–South Centre of the Sahara some twenty years before. Without mention- the Geography Department of the University of Berne, was ing the details of the numerous expeditions and field stud- at that time the Director of the Soil Conservation Research ies, we familiarized ourselves with the impressive high Projects of the Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture between mountain landscapes of the Atacama region in many pro- 1981 and 1987 (Messerli and Hurni 1990): files and transects. Supported by the experiences gained In the years that followed, further African Mountain at various conferences and excursions in Peru, Bolivia, Conferences were held in Morocco (1990), Kenya (1993), Argentina and in the northern and southern parts of Chile, Madagascar (1996), Lesotho (2000) and Tanzania (2002). we enlarged and deepened our knowledge base, and But then this activity weakened because of a lack of finan- enticed the next generation of scientists of Berne, under cial resources to permanently support an efficient secretariat the leadership of Martin Grosjean and Heinz Veit, after or centre. Notwithstanding these difficulties, the published my retirement in 1996, to tackle new mountain research conference proceedings furnished a most valuable informa- challenges. tion on African mountains. In March 2013, while writing Relating to this Geography of the Andes, published by this epilogue, I received the surprising good news from the the two competent authors, Axel Borsdorf and Christoph Mountain Partnership Secretariat of the FAO in Rome that Stadel, we can ascertain that this book addresses topics an African Mountain Partnership Champions Committee for which we never before had the time nor this integrative had been constituted in Kigali, Rwanda, on 20 February expertise. I am therefore enthusiastic and grateful to be able 2013, with the goal to enhance “the mountain partnership to rely in future on this volume. in Africa for sustainable development in African water tow- ers” (FAO 2013). In South America we became active for the first time 3 Political Objectives in 1988. Soon afterwards it was announced that in 1992 a major international event would take place in South In 1983 Jack Ives and I witnessed and participated in the America, the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, which foundation of the International Centre for Integrated required the preparation of Agenda 21 addressing the most Mountain Development (ICIMOD) in Kathmandu. At pressing problems of the 21st century. One chapter of this that time, we directed a project of the United Nations Agenda was devoted to the mountains, their resources and University (UNU) on natural hazards in Nepal. The initia- their populations. Obviously the Andes were an important tive for the creation of ICIMOD as a Center for research on component here. The compilation of the mountain chap- the Hindukush and Himalaya, encompassing the states of ter was based on a recognition of the close interlinkages Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, between science and politics, as well as by the fact that the Nepal and Pakistan, came from UNESCO and was finan- Himalaya, the mountains of Africa and the Andes, were an cially supported by Germany and Switzerland. important part of the developing realm. Therefore they were The guiding principle for ICIMOD was based on destined to assume a major political role. the themes of the 1975 UNESCO-MAB Conference in This need to prepare a sound document for the Rio Kathmandu, in particular on the sixth programme, Man’s Conference meant that an international scientific congress Impact on Mountain Ecosystems. The concepts for this pro- hat to be organized before the end of 1991. Since my time gramme were developed by a UNESCO group of experts in as a student I had a close friendship with Wilhelm Egli, Salzburg; Jack Ives and I had the privilege to participate in the later Vice-Director of the Swiss School in Santiago. this Salzburg meeting. Today ICIMOD counts a staff of 150 He became instrumental in assisting us in the preparation people, and has gradually achieved, after many years and for the Congress in Santiago. Another happy coincidence numerous hurdles, an effective cross-border cooperation. resulted from meeting Hugo Romero of the Geography In 1986, after many years of scientific work in the moun- Department of the Universidad de Chile during an excur- tains of North and East Africa, we organized an interna- sion of the Commission on Mountain Geoecology of the tional conference on African mountains in Addis Ababa. International Geographical Union (IGU) Union in New In addition to prominent scholars from the University of Zealand in 1988. In a most competent way Hugo Romero Addis Ababa, 53 scientists from ten African and eleven supported us in the organization of the 1991 Andean non-African countries attended this conference. An excur- Congress. sion to the various well-equipped research stations of the The President of the UNU, Hector Gurgulino de Souza country was enthusiastically acclaimed, and an African of Brazil, sent us an opening address from Tokyo, the seat Epilogue 325 of the UNU, and he also assured us of financial support.