International Mountain Day
©FAO/Yasuyoshi Chiba

#MountainsMatter

The United Nations General Assembly designated 11 December “International Mountain Day”. As of 2003, it has been observed every year to create awareness about the importance of mountains to life, to highlight the opportunities and constraints in mountain development and to build alliances that will bring positive change to mountain peoples and environments around the world.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is the coordinating agency for the preparation and animation of this celebration and is mandated to lead observance of it at the global level. The Mountain Partnership Secretariat in the FAO Forestry Division is responsible for coordinating this international process.

IMD 2023 in the press

In celebration of International Mountain Day 2023, more than 250 articles were published by national and international news outlets. FAO's social media content on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn was shared widely with over 110 multilingual posts published on FAO social media. The social media campaign had an estimated reach of 48 million users with 37 500 engagements.

How will you mark the day?

  • Check out the International Mountain Day social media kit for resources that can be shared widely across your networks.
  • Join the conversation on social media using the #MountainsMatter hashtag. Pass on some of this year's key messages or take a photo of your favourite mountain and share it with us and your friends.
  • Organize or participate in activities that celebrate mountains, including virtual presentations and events, photo competitions, art exhibitions and hikes.
  • Promote your planned event by officially registering it on our gallery of events happening around the world.

Key messages