Mountains as fragile ecosystems
Mountains are very fragile environments subject to adverse and harsh climatic conditions (excessive rainfall, relatively low temperatures, aridity, high solar radiation), natural disasters (avalanches, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions), and poor and shallow soils prone to erosion because of steep slopes. Soil formation and vegetative growth are very slow in colder temperatures. Once damage to mountain soil or vegetation occurs, it may be irreversible, or reversible only over a very long period of time. Relative isolation is another feature of mountain areas: the very morphology of mountains reduces accessibility and hampers exchange with the lowlands. Agricultural production is often marginal and labour intensive. Yet, coupled with limited access, these constraints have meant that many mountain regions have remained protected areas of cultural integrity and heritage, and of biological diversity with high degrees of endemism. However, the recent trend towards greater globalization has in some areas tended to erode the social and cultural integrity of mountain societies due to increased and accelerated contact with the outside world.
Sustainable development
Mountain area fragility represents a considerable challenge to sustainable development. In the report of the World Commission on Environment and Development, "Our Common Future" (WCED, 1987), sustainable development is defined as "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs". Another commonly used definition of sustainable development, agreed on by three of the major international organizations working in the field, is "development which improves the quality of life, within the carrying capacity of the Earth's life support system" (IUCN, UNEP, WWF, 1991).
Typical agricultural system in the High Atlas: Irrigated fields in the valley, pasture land on the slopes where trees have almost disappeared, settlements on the transition between cultivated land and pastures (March 1988)
- "a political system that secures effective citizen participation in decision-making,
- an economic system that is able to generate surpluses and technical knowledge on a self-reliant and sustained basis,
- a social system that provides for solutions for the tensions arising from disharmonious development,
- a production system that respects the obligation to preserve the ecological base for development,
- a technological system that can search continuously for new solutions,
- an international system that fosters sustainable patterns of trade and finance,
- an administrative system that is flexible and has the capacity for self-correction."
How does the concept of sustainable development apply to mountain areas? The fragility of mountain ecosystems means that the impacts of unsustainable development are more rapid, heavier and more difficult to correct than in other areas of the world; thus sustainable approaches to development deserve particular attention in mountain areas. The basic requirements for sustainable development have to be considered carefully and should involve equal attention to ecological, economical and social considerations, application of integrated approaches, and ensuring popular participation. "Given the very different characteristics of the world's diverse mountain regions, even on one continent, it is probably best not to propose a precise definition of sustainable mountain development, but to recognize that it is a regionally-specific process of sustainable development that concerns both, mountain regions and populations living downstream or otherwise dependent on these regions in various ways" (Price and Kim, 1999).