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Mountain Futures in China

15.06.2018

Researchers and representatives from governments, mountain communities and private sector companies from across the globe meet at the four-day Mountain Futures 2018 conference to discuss inspiration and innovation from the world highlands.
The conference, organized by the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) and Kunming Institute of Botany (KIB), Chinese Academy of Sciences, was an occasion for over 200 mountain experts from around the world to discuss and present transformative solutions to chart a way for mountain regions.

Opened by Professor Xu Jianchu, Principal Scientist and Regional Coordinator, East & Central Asia Regional Office, World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), the conference then started with a high level leadership roundtable which looked at issues of advocacy, urgency, “naturenomics” and integration in mountains. Participants at the roundtable were Philippus Wester, Regional Manager from the International Centre for Integrated Mountain development (ICIMOD), Sara Manuelli from the Mountain Partnership Secretariat, Ranjit Barthakur, Advisor Tata Consultancy Services and founder and trustee of the Balibara Foundation and Dagne Mojo from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) International Ecosystem Management Partnership.

“The MPS has proven over the years to be an effective mechanism for raising awareness at all levels of the plight of mountain peoples and the vulnerability of mountain ecosystems,” said Sara Manuelli, Programme and outreach officer the MPS. “Yet we know that we do not have a lot of the time if we want to meet the SDGs targets by 2030. We need to change pace, promote the Framework for Action for implementing Mountains in the 2030 Agenda among the MP members, build on the multistakeholder nature of the MP and raise visibility among those who still do not understand the crucial role played by mountains for sustainable development.”

The two day conference also held a two day series of parallel sessions on themes such as Utilization of Bioresources, the Role of Gender in Rural Livelihoods, Market and Business Solutions Landscape Management and Restoration and Sustainable Agricultural Systems. The field trip preconference was held in the Honghe region in the UNESCO rice terraces and included a visit to the new centre for mountain research, a 200-hectare site in China’s Yunnan Province dedicated to developing innovative farming systems that tackle poverty and environmental degradation in the world’s mountain areas.

Photos by Sara Manuelli

See more photos from Mountain Futures 2018 on the Mountain Partnership Flickr