Statement at the parallel event to launch the International Partnership for Sustainable Development in Mountain Regions

World Summit on Sustainable Development
Johannesburg, South Africa, 2 September 2002

Excellencies
Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a great honour to be here to launch the International Partnership for Sustainable Development in Mountain Regions and to confirm FAO's ongoing commitment to mountains and mountain people.

While the Partnership is new, the international collaboration and commitment are not. During the 10 years since the 1992 Earth Summit, many of us here today have worked together to achieve the goals of Chapter 13 of Agenda 21. But Rio was not the beginning. It took decades of research and advocacy before Rio to bring the threats to mountain ecosystems and the plight of mountain people to the world's attention.

To those of you who put mountains and mountain people on the Rio agenda, we honour your foresight and perseverance. To those who have carried the torch since Rio, we at FAO promise to continue to work with you in ever more efficient ways.

I believe our work is crucial to global security. Like the earth's oceans and rainforests, mountains are fundamental to life itself. They are the source of most of the world's freshwater. More than half of humanity - three billion people - depend on mountains for safe, fresh water to grow food, to produce electricity, to sustain industries and, most importantly, to drink.

Mountains are host to more biodiversity than any other single ecoregion on the planet. These unique landscapes harbour much of the world's remaining biological heritage, including many of the foods upon which humanity depends.

Yet, as diverse as mountain ecosystems are, and as strong and powerful the image of mountains may be, in reality, mountains are exceedingly fragile.

As we gather here today, mountain glaciers - the source of water for many of the world's river systems - are melting at unprecedented rates, a consequence, many scientists suspect, of global warming.

Each day, climate change, pollution and unsustainable forestry, agriculture and development take a toll on mountain environments.

Mountain people are the first to pay the price for the degradation of their homelands. In addition, many mountain people wake each day to insurmountable obstacles: poverty, hunger, economic and political marginalization, disease and armed conflict.

The challenges facing the world's mountain ranges and mountain communities are as big as mountains themselves. The way forward, I believe, is to break the challenges down into smaller pieces, smaller issues, and for each of us to contribute what we have and what we do best. This requires collaboration of all of us - governments, UN agencies, Major Groups and the private sector.

As you know, FAO is task manager for Chapter 13, the global blueprint for the sustainable development of the world's mountain regions. The Organization is also the lead UN agency for the International Year of Mountains 2002, working in partnership with many of you to focus the world's attention on the crucial need to protect mountain ecosystems and improve the well-being of mountain people. FAO is honoured to do this and believes that its efforts will be instrumental in achieving the Organization's overarching goal of alleviating hunger and poverty so that all people at all times will have access to the food they need for active, healthy lives.

It is a sobering fact that a disproportionately high number of the world's 800 million chronically undernourished people live in mountains. New research at FAO suggests that half of the more than 700 million mountain dwellers in the world are vulnerable to food insecurity. By creating the conditions for sustainable development of mountain regions, we can make great strides toward ensuring that there is enough food for all.

Towards this goal, FAO pledges to the Partnership its ongoing work in agriculture, forestry, fisheries and rural development and, most importantly, in alleviating hunger and chronic malnutrition. The Organization will provide crucial support to the Partnership in the areas of coordination and communication to ensure that we share information and focus our resources effectively. FAO will also help developing countries, including many of the 70 countries that are currently observing the International Year of Mountains, to develop and implement strategic plans for the sustainable development of their mountain areas and to enact supportive mountain-friendly policies and laws.

In addition, I am pleased to announce today that FAO will facilitate a civil-society led, government-supported, initiative to support the transition to people-centred sustainable agriculture and rural development - the SARD Initiative. Its goal is to improve environmental, economic and social well-being while meeting the world's food needs. We will do this by building the capacity of rural communities, disadvantaged groups and other stakeholders to improve access to land, water, genetic, technological and other resources, promoting good practices, and fostering fairer conditions of employment in agriculture. It is my pleasure to announce today that we are beginning the SARD Initiative in the world's mountains in recognition of the need and tremendous potential for sustainable development in mountains.

To all of you who have helped to make the Mountain Partnership a reality, I offer my sincere thanks. In particular, I wish to thank the governments of Switzerland, Italy, Peru and the other members of the International Year of Mountains Focus Group for their leadership. FAO looks forward to working with all of you at the upcoming Bishkek Global Mountain Summit in October in Kyrgyzstan, the first meeting of the Partnership. There, the objectives, means and mechanisms for our collaboration will be refined.

As we go forward, mountain communities must be at the centre of the discussions and, in every debate, the voices of mountain people must be heard. Mountain people, after all, are the stewards of the world's fragile mountain ecosystems. It is only with their support, wisdom, knowledge and experience that the Partnership can tap the tremendous potential of mountains for sustainable development, protect the biological and cultural heritage that resides in mountains and reduce global conflict by ensuring water and food for all.

Thank you.

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