Transhumant pastoralism, with its cultural, ecological, and socioeconomic significance, is an important livelihood strategy for mountain communities. Despite its importance, transhumant pastoralism is declining in the Hindu Kush Himalayan region. This study examines the drivers of change experienced by transhumant herders in Bajhang, western Nepal, to understand future implications for...

Green alder shrubs increasingly overgrow mountain pastures. Especially on steep and remote sites of low productivity, the stocking density decreases. Consequently, green alder expands massively and the pastureland and its biodiversity is getting lost. In this video, Julia and Martin Patzen explain how they regulate green alder shrubs by goats...

This publication presents a collection of case studies by Mountain Partnership (MP) members from around the world, highlighting experiences of agroecological mountain farming systems. It aims to increase attention toward agroecological principles and approaches and showcase their potential. The MP, the only United Nations global voluntary alliance dedicated to sustainable...

Family farming is basically a system to establish a set up for forestry, agricultural, fisheries, countryside and aquaculture production. Through family farming employment generation takes place and unemployment issue prevailing in the society minimizes. The output of the family farm is high productivity and enhancement in farm income. Directly or...

Known for their smaller size and brown colour, Busha cattle have withstood the harsh climate and living conditions in mountainous parts of the Balkan Peninsula for centuries. In Serbia, the Busha breed is not only an important element of animal genetic diversity, but also a source of food and income...

Euromontana has worked on the Smart Villages concept since 2017 as member of the European Network for Rural Development’s Thematic Group on the topic. Through the Horizon 2020 project SIMRA (Social Innovation in Marginalised Rural Areas), Euromontana also contributed to broaden the definition of the concept, by advocating that the Smart Villages approach...

Ma Thi Ninh thought farming would be relatively easy. The Yen Duong area of Viet Nam where she lives has excellent, arable land and offers many sought-after products, including organic sticky rice, seasonal vegetables and bamboo used for traditional handicraft products. But once she started to farm and trade in...

El 14 de abril de 2020, el federado Daniel Ahumada fue víctima de la usurpación de su campo, ubicado en Cruz del Eje, provincia de Córdoba. El usurpador, valiéndose de un arma de fuego, amenazó a Daniel, su madre y su hijo, para quedarse con la propiedad, argumentando haberla comprado....

This publication presents a collection of case studies by Mountain Partnership (MP) members from around the world, highlighting experiences of agroecological mountain farming systems. It aims to increase attention toward agroecological principles and approaches and showcase their potential. The MP, the only United Nations global voluntary alliance dedicated to sustainable...

On 12th October 2021, Euromontana organised its annual conference on “Being young in a mountain area in 2021”. The event was the opportunity to highlight the needs and desires of young people for the future of the mountains. The conference gave the floor to different mountain organisations that have recently...

The State of the World’s Trees, published in September 2021, shares the results of the Global Tree Assessment (GTA) - the first conservation assessment of all of the world’s trees. The results tell us that 30% of all tree species - more than 17,500 species - are threatened with extinction....

Ma Thi Ninh thought farming would be relatively easy. The Yen Duong area of Viet Nam where she lives has excellent, arable land and offers many sought-after products, including organic sticky rice, seasonal vegetables and bamboo used for traditional handicraft products. But once she started to farm and trade in...

How to encourage generation renewal, young people to stay, newcomers to settle? Which barriers do they face and how policies can help to overcome them? These were the questions raised during the conference of the Horizon 2020 project Ruralization on 8th and 9th November 2021, where Blandine Camus, Communication and Policy Officer,...

In Spain, the G100 Rural Proofing project aims to develop a Spanish model for rural proofing. The G100 initiative is led by the social economy NGO El Hueco and is supported by the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and the region of Navarra.  The impact of legislation on rural areas has been analysed for...

This report, elaborated in the frame of EU-funded LIFE project OREKA MENDIAN (2016-2022), focuses on how human activities can support sustainable management of mountain grasslands in Europe. Today, more than 75% of the grassland area in the EU-28 is considered to have an unfavourable conservation status. The widely negative picture of...

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, farmers face various issues to continue feeding people but also to find alternative distribution channels for their products. With the closure of markets in many countries and the shift of consumer demand to certain types of products, such as flour and eggs, different...

In February 2020, during the first plenary session of the recently renewed European Committee of the Regions (CoR) members adopted the opinion “Towards sustainable neighborhoods and small communities – Environment policy below municipal level” by rapporteur Gaetano Armao (IT/EPP). Euromontana is pleased to see that the rapporteur integrated its suggestions...

Myanmar falls within the center of the genetic diversity of many economically important crops, including wild and cultivated rice (Oryza sativa L.). However, the majority of the genetic resources of Myanmar, particularly local varieties, and their distribution remain poorly understood. The present study was conducted to investigate the on-farm varietal diversity...

Introduces key debates and concepts about pastoralism, and explores the varying ways that pastoralists respond to uncertainty around the world. Based on the work of the PASTRES programme, the course is aimed at students, practitioners and policy-makers. It is divided into 13 parts with a lecture, suggested readings and questions in...

Yak (Bos grunniens L.) herding plays an important role in the domestic economy throughout much of the Asian highlands. Yak represents a major mammal species of the rangelands found across the Asian highlands from Russia and Kyrgyzstan in the west to the Hengduan Mountains of China in the east. Yak...