Key messages

• Covering around 27 percent of the earth's land surface, mountains play a critical role in moving the world towards sustainable economic growth.
• Mountains are home to almost 15 percent of the world’s population.
• Forests cover more than 40 percent of the global mountain area.
• Mountains not only provide sustenance and well-being to 1.1 billion mountain people around the world but also indirectly benefit billions more living downstream.
• One in two rural mountain people in developing countries is vulnerable to food insecurity.
• Indigenous and local populations in mountains have unique and valuable local knowledge, traditions and cultural practices that can contribute to effective land management strategies.
• Mountains provide freshwater, energy and food - resources that will be increasingly scarce in coming decades.
• More than half of humanity relies on mountain freshwater for everyday life.
• Some of the world's largest cities, including New York, Rio de Janeiro, Nairobi, Tokyo and Melbourne, are dependent on freshwater from mountains.
• Mountains contribute to food and nutrition security by providing land for crops, grazing for livestock, watercourses for inland fisheries, and non-wood forest products such as berries, mushrooms and honey.
• Of the 20 plant species that supply 80 percent of the world's food, six originated and have been diversified in mountains: maize, potatoes, barley, sorghum, tomatoes and apples.
• Mountains are places of tourism and cultural trails. Mountain tourism accounts for about 15–20 percent the global tourism industry.
• Mountains have a key role to play in providing renewable energy, especially through hydropower, solar power, wind power and biogas.

Videos

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Publications

Restoring mountain ecosystems This publication, jointly developed by the Mountain Partnership Secretariat at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the United Nations Environment Programme, analyses several mountain ecosystem restoration projects and recommends how the UN Decade’s Ten Principles for Ecosystem Restoration can be applied to mountain ecosystems. [more]

Mountain Partnership Secretariat – Annual Report 2022 The Mountain Partnership is the United Nations voluntary alliance of partners dedicated to mountain peoples and environments. The Secretariat of the Mountain Partnership is hosted by FAO. This Annual Report outlines the Mountain Partnership Secretariat’s key achievements in promoting sustainable mountain development in 2022. [more]

Understanding and quantifying mountain tourism A new report by FAO, the World Tourism Organization and the Mountain Partnership highlights how mountain tourism, if managed sustainably, can boost the incomes of local communities and help preserve their natural resources and culture. [more]

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Goodwill ambassador interviews

What is a Mountain Partnership Goodwill Ambassador? Arjun Gupta, a philanthropist and the founder of Telesoft Partners, was appointed a Mountain Partnership Goodwill Ambassador in December 2017. In this interview, he tells us what a Mountain Partnership Goodwill Ambassador is and how the private sector can support and promote sustainable mountain development. [more]

The role of mountains for the planet His Holiness Drikung Kyabgön Chetsang was appointed a Mountain Partnership Goodwill Ambassador in May 2015. In this interview, he explains the role of mountains for the planet and what a Mountain Partnership Goodwill Ambassador can do to increase the visibility of the importance of mountains for sustainable development. [more]

What the world can learn from mountains Jake Norton, a climber, photographer, filmmaker, philanthropist and inspirational speaker, was appointed a Mountain Partnership Goodwill Ambassador in December 2014. In this interview, he tells us what everyone can learn from mountains and how Mountain Partnership Goodwill Ambassadors can help mountain communities. [more]

Expert interviews

Press releases and editorials

Opinion editorial: On a quest to restore mountains 11 December 2023 Mountains are not just magnificent landscapes. They are lifelines for millions. We need mountains to drink: each day, one in two people on the planet quenches their thirst with water that originates in mountains. We need mountains to eat: across the world, two-thirds of irrigated agriculture depends on runoff from mountains. [more]

Proof that restoring mountain ecosystems works - returning wildlife and flourishing forests in mountains guard against climate change and create jobs 11 December 2023 In the snowy peaks of Kyrgyzstan’s Tien-Shan mountains, a group of people hike to a remote area, checking and relocating camera traps that monitor wildlife, like the elusive snow leopard – the “ghost of the mountains”. Formerly hunters and fishers, these locals now work as community rangers, patrolling the Baiboosun Nature Reserve. [more]

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