Disaster risk management
Mountains are hazardous places. Many mountain communities live under the threat of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions caused by shifting tectonic plates. Gravity pushing down on sloping land compounds the destructive power of storms and heavy rains, producing avalanches, landslides and floods. Population growth, climate change and unsustainable natural resource management practices are putting dangerous pressure on the mountain ecosystems and making mountain communities increasingly vulnerable to disasters.
Women, children and the elderly are especially vulnerable to disasters. And in many mountain areas, it is these members of the community that are looking after mountain homesteads, as the men move to lowland cities or abroad to earn a better income and support their family through remittances.
Forces from outside mountain communities, such as commercial logging interests and market-driven agricultural production, also put pressure on mountain ecosystems. All of this can lead to deforestation and environmental degradation. The loss of forest cover deprives mountain communities of a protective barrier against landslides and avalanches and further contributes to increased soil erosion and water run off.
To reduce the risks of disasters in mountain areas it is urgent to increase awareness and to develop integrated strategies and policies on disaster risk management at the national level. Policy-makers involved with disaster risk management cannot afford to neglect mountains, considering the high number of natural hazards in mountain areas and the high vulnerability of mountain communities.
Registering for the MP Global MeetingnewsMembers of the Mountain Partnership are invited to attend the Mountain Partnership Global Meeting, which will be held at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) headquarters on 11-13 December 2017, in conjunction with the International Mountain Day. The Meeting will be followed by a two-day training...
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Stepping up for mountains in 2016peak to peakIssue 107 – Month 8 – Year 2017 The August issue of Peak to Peak shares with readers the Mountain Partnership Secretariat 2016 Annual Report. The newsletter continues with stories about a week dedicated to mountains hosted by Bogotá, Colombia that included an International Congress of Paramos and Mountain... Download » |
A workshop on mountains of the Mediterraneannews‘A Sense of Italy for the Future’ was the theme of the 2017 Soft Economy Festival held in Treia, Italy. During the festival, an International Workshop on Mediterranean Mountains took place on 5-6 July. Treia is located in Central Italy within the Marche Region, which was disturbed by earthquakes last...
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Making mountain cities resilientnewsTwo examples of increasing the resilience of mountain communities in Panama to disaster, written by Mountain Partnership member Fundación CoMunidad’s director, Alberto Pascual, have been published in the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR)’s 2017 edition of “How To Make Cities More Resilient: A Handbook For...
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Stepping up for mountains: Mountain Partnership Secretariat Annual Report 2016publicationThe Mountain Partnership Secretariat outlines its key achievements in promoting sustainable mountain development last year in its 2016 annual report. The publication documents the Secretariat’s work in the areas of advocacy, communication and knowledge management, promoting International Mountain Day, brokering joint action and leading capacity development initiatives. The 60-page publication... Download » |
International Workshop on Mediterranean MountainseventThe Italian Ministry of the Environment together with the Italian Federation of Parks and Natural Reserves (Federparchi) will organize an international workshop on the mountains of the Mediterranean Basin on 5-6 July, in Treia, Italy, during the annual Soft Economy Festival. This edition of the Festival will focus on the...
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