Events

Mountain agrobiodiversity: Contribution to the sustainable development of mountain areas

From: 19.09.2022 to: 19.09.2022

Covering around one quarter of the world's land surface, mountains host about half of the world's biodiversity hotspots and 30 percent of all Key Biodiversity Areas, as well as vital genetic resources for locally adapted crops and livestock. Mountain ecosystems provide important ecosystem services to billions of people living downstream, such as stabilizing slopes, regulating climate, regulating hydrological cycles and supporting livelihoods

In mountain areas, agriculture and food production are important economic and development drivers.

The genetic diversity of agricultural varieties and wild crop relatives in mountain family based farming systems is the basis for ensuring sustainable healthy diets and livelihood of mountain people. Food systems remain indeed the main driver of development in most mountain regions. Food production and processing directly benefit mountain economies, agro-pastoral landscapes and their restoration and indirectly supports other livelihood opportunities such as tourism.

The International Year of Sustainable Mountain Development 2022 is a unique opportunity to raise awareness on the role of mountains and mountain people for our planet and sustainable development as well as for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It is a chance to catalyze action and investments to build the resilience of mountain communities and ecosystems in the spirit of the 2030 Agenda: leave no one behind.

Organized by the Mountain Partnership Secretariat and the governments of Switzerland and Uganda, this side event during the Ninth Session of the Governing Body of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture is the opportunity to present some concrete example of the contributions of conservation and sustainable use of mountain biodiversity for food and agriculture to the implementation of the SDGs in mountain areas and how the International Treaty could catalyze actions and investments in the future.

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Photo: ©Viren Sharma