News

Mountains celebrated worldwide on IMD 2019

09.01.2020

Mountain lovers and communities around the world mobilized for International Mountain Day (IMD) 2019. From government officials to environmentalists, mountaineers to schoolchildren, the world paid attention to mountain peoples and environments.

‘Mountains matter for youth’ was the theme of IMD 2019, which encouraged young people to demand that mountains and mountain peoples become central in national and international development agendas, and receive more attention, investments and tailored research.

The Mountain Partnership Secretariat (MPS) held a photo and recipe contest for IMD. The contest focused on mountain products and on healthy, nutritious recipes that reflect the traditions of the mountains. The IMD recipe contest received over 70 entries from 27 countries. Ashmita Lama from the Sinja Valley in Nepal was the winner of this year’s contest. Lama is value chain officer for Organic World and Fair Future, an eco-social company in Nepal and a member of the Mountain Partnership (MP). The Jumla beans used in the recipe carry the Mountain Partnership Products label. View all the entries here.

IMD 2019 was celebrated in more than 27 countries with conferences, cultural exchanges, film screenings and more. Trees were planted, art created, dances and music performed, hikes completed and discussions held in countries such as Nepal, Mexico, Peru, Malawi, Russia and Saudi Arabia. View all the celebrations here.

This day is an annual occasion to make waves in the media to call attention to mountains. This year, tweets using the hashtag #MountainsMatter reached more than 110 million timelines. More than 100 articles were published by major national and international news outlets, and an editorial signed by FAO Forestry Assistant Director-General Hiroto Mitsugi was published in El Pais and La Repubblica.

As the lead coordinating United Nations agency of this annual celebration, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) worked with decentralized offices, governments and civil society organizations to support awareness-raising events showing the importance of mountains to sustainable global development.

Mountains had a strong presence at the 25th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC COP 25), held from 2 to 13 December in Madrid, Spain. Many stakeholders came together to raise awareness about the effects of climate change on fragile mountain environments and communities. The MP supported four events at the UNFCCC COP 25, including the IMD high-level event, which was kicked off by FAO Director-General, Qu Dongyu.  

In Italy, FAO and the Mountain Partnership Secretariat co-organized “Music Moves Mountains”, a series of celebratory events in Milan. The day included a panel discussion, video screenings and a concert dedicated to mountains by pianist and composer Ludovico Einaudi. More than 1 400 people attended the concert at which Einaudi was appointed MP Goodwill Ambassador by Mitsugi.

The United Nations also celebrated IMD at the UN Headquarters in New York. The event was co-organized by FAO and the Permanent Missions of the Kyrgyz Republic, Andorra, Austria, Bhutan, Canada, Greece, Italy, Nepal and Norway.

Photo from Macpherson Nthara - Malawi