INTRODUCTION

1. Chapter 13 is the section of UNCED Agenda 21 which addresses the sustainable development of mountains. These are considered fragile ecosystems and necessitate special efforts for a better knowledge of the resources they contain and sustained action for the development and conservation of mountain resources and communities. The main objectives of Chapter 13 aim at i) raising awareness of the importance of and improving understanding of sustainable mountain development issues at global, regional and national level; ii) protecting natural resources and developing technical and institutional arrangements for natural disaster reduction; iii) strengthening a global information network and database, for organizations, governments and individuals concerned with mountain issues; iv) strengthening country capacity to improve planning, implementation and monitoring of sustainable mountain development programmes and activities; and v) combating poverty.

2. In 1993 FAO was designated task manager for the implementation of Chapter 13. In that role it is responsible for coordinating, steering and animating UN agencies' efforts to implement measures and recommendations prescribed in this chapter. Since then it has been carrying out this responsibility through a variety of means, both internal and external, which are described below.

3. In 1998 the UN General Assembly took an additional important step in recognising the importance of sustainable mountain development by declaring 2002 the International Year of Mountains and invited FAO to be the lead agency in the UN system responsible for preparing the observance of this year.

DECISION TO OBSERVE THE INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF MOUNTAINS

4. The idea to propose sustainable mountain development as a theme for an international year was first proposed by the president of the Kyrgyz Republic at the international conference "Mountain Research - Challenges for the 21^st Century", convened in Bishkek in 1996. It was subsequently officially presented to the UN Secretary-General and after receiving strong support in ECOSOC, the resolution proclaiming an International Year of Mountains (IYM) to be celebrated in 2002 passed without vote in the UN General Assembly in November 1998. FAO was invited to act as Lead Agency for the year, a role which was approved by the FAO Council in November 1998.

5. Under the overall goal of ensuring sustainable development of mountain regions and the well being of their populations, the International Year of Mountains should serve, inter alia,

• to increase awareness of and knowledge about mountain ecosystems, their dynamics and functioning and their overriding importance in providing a number of strategic services and products essential to the well being of both rural and urban people and in particular to water supply and food security;
• to promote conservation and sustainable development of mountain resources for present and future human well-being;
• to promote and defend the cultural heritage of mountain communities.

6. These objectives will need to be achieved through a variety of means, including: generation and exchange of information; awareness raising and sensitization; education, training and extension; documentation of best practices based on successful field case studies; and promotion of mountain-specific policy formulation and legislation. Efforts will have to be made at both international and national levels and the IYM will be only considered a success if there is significant follow-up at the different levels.

ORGANIZATIONAL ACTIVITIES FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF CHAPTER 13

7. The implementation of Chapter 13, the related reporting and the preparations of the observance of the IYM constitute a compact body of activities in the FAO programme. A number of organizational arrangements have been effected which are recalled below.

Reactivating the Inter-agency Group on Mountains

8. During 1999 FAO convened the fifth and sixth sessions of the ad hoc Inter-agency Group on Mountains, thus restarting the collaborative mechanism on Chapter 13 implementation. This group, which has provided support and guidance to the task manager in the implementation of Chapter 13, will continue this role in the preparation and observance of the IYM. These meetings brought together leading international agencies and organizations involved in mountain development and conservation and laid the groundwork for coordinating further action and preparing the observance of the IYM.

Promoting Networking on Mountain Issues

9. Networks of governmental and non-governmental institutions and individuals have become over time an essential tool in the implementation of Chapter 13. The Mountain Forum network was established in 1995 at the global level and has since constituted decentralized nodes in all regions. The network's African node (which includes countries of North Africa) was established at a workshop held in Nairobi in August 1999 hosted at the International Centre for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF), which has agreed to temporarily host the African Mountain Forum during the initial start-up period for the first 18 months of operation. The establishment of this network in the region and in some cases the existence of sub-regional networks will help build an exceptional outreach that will put the observance of the IYM under particularly favourable conditions in the continent.

Improving FAO organizational readiness

10. The implementation of Chapter 13 has helped further promote integration and interdepartmental cohesion within FAO in the development of activities relating to the conservation and development of mountain resources. To further promote this interdepartmental cooperation and integration, an interdepartmental working group on mountains has been reactivated. This group has started gathering information on relevant activities and contributing to the preparation of the IYM at the conceptual phase and will contribute actively to the operational phase when the moment arrives.

11. Regional and Sub-regional offices of FAO are expected to participate in and expand the scope of these activities. Focal points will have to be designated to animate cross-sectoral regional initiatives to prepare and implement the IYM. FAO country representatives will be provided with information on issues on mountain resources development and conservation and on approaches to observe the IYM.

Strengthening Activities in the Watershed Management and Sustainable Mountain Development Programme

12. The preparation of the Programme of Work and Budget 2000-2001 has provided a new opportunity to strengthen the programme on mountains and watershed management. The new programme includes several clusters which will promote substantive activities in increasing awareness and information flow, facilitating and improving networking and partnership and enhancing capacity at national level to plan and implement sustainable mountain development and watershed management programmes and activities.

13. This will be developed in close collaboration with regional and sub-regional offices, including sharing of resources, support of shared activities in partnership, etc. The identification of the major outside partners and collaborators in mountain-related activities and the promotion of a process to share responsibility including with NGOs will of course accompany this.

STEPS TOWARDS THE OBSERVANCE OF THE INTERNATIONAL
YEAR OF MOUNTAINS

14. A number of initiatives have been taken to start the preparation for the IYM, including dissemination of information, enlisting country support and guidance, conceptualisation of the IYM programme and consolidation of funding.

Enlisting Country Support and Guidance

15. In a drive to fully inform and enlist the support of those governments particularly interested in mountain issues, FAO held in Rome, on 9 July 1999, a briefing meeting and discussion on the mountain agenda and on the IYM for Permanent Representatives to FAO. The outcome of the discussion emphasised the need to ensure that IYM implementation provides direct benefits to people and not only be limited to external and event-related celebrations. The special role of NGOs, and the importance of gender issues and of developing information and educational material was also stressed. The call was renewed to interested countries to support the process and provide necessary supplementary resources for a successful preparation and observance.

16. By June 2000, more elements to support and guide national participation will be available, including i) information material; ii) an IYM coordination unit at FAO; iii) an IYM logo; and iv) a dedicated IYM web site.

Concept for and Means to Prepare and Observe the IYM

17. To fully inform the preparatory process and provide a clear framework for the observance of the IYM, a concept paper and an assessment of needs and the formulation of a multi-donor trust fund were effected. This was also in response to the request by the 115^th Session of the FAO Council which recommended countries, in particular donor countries, to provide support and extra-budgetary resources to FAO.

Concept Paper

18. The IYM concept paper has been formulated based on review and input from the ad hoc Inter-agency Group on Mountains. It aims to provide general guidelines and a framework for preparations for the IYM for all institutions and individuals involved in mountain-related issues.

19. Synthesis of the concept paper will be prepared and incorporated in the information packages that will support countries' preparations and observance of the IYM.

Resources Needed to Implement the International Year of Mountains

20. The 115^th Session of the Council recommended that FAO look into the needs for funding and to report to it in one of its upcoming sessions. The discussions and exchange of views developed on the subject, in particular the advice gathered from the consultations organized in-house and with partners in the Mountain Forum and in the ad hoc Inter-agency Group on Mountains, suggest an observance with the following characteristics:

• The observance should be based on an important outreach programme to build a shared vision of mountain realities through information, awareness raising and education;
• Guidance and promotion of catalytic activities should help develop concrete local and national activities addressing issues and concerns at local and national levels;
• Substantive cognitive work should be done and the early decision by the UN General Assembly has been a comparative advantage of this year;
• It has been strongly advocated that gender issues, local communities, and overall social and environmental dimensions and services of mountains be among the major themes of the IYM.
•  
• 21. The means needed for the observance of the IYM are aimed to support the following major clusters:
• Establishment of a specialized promotion and coordination unit to plan, coordinate, facilitate, monitor and report on IYM preparations and observance
• Production of information, awareness-raising and education material to support the IYM
• Support to and promotion of national observance
• Key international events including regional and/or mountain range-based workshops and consultations or conferences
• Studies and publications
• Support to programme formulation
• An international conference on mountains (funded separately)

22. Resources needed to cover all these activities and measures have been estimated at approximately US$ 5 million, all of which need to be mobilized through extra-budgetary sources. Fund raising strategy will include bilateral and multilateral sources, as well as contributions from non-traditional sources such as private foundations and corporations. However, immediate contributions essential for the effective start-up of core activities, especially related to promotion and coordination of the IYM, will depend primarily on bilateral sources.

SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS FOR THE NEAR EAST REGION

23. Mountains play particularly important functions in the Near East and North African region. They are present in nearly all the countries in the region and strongly influence the distribution of plant and animal resources and hence the biological diversity. Relief and climate combine to give special landscapes well known, in particular in the Mediterranean region. In this region more typically than in any other region, mountains influence the availability of water and help agriculture under conditions that would be thought completely dry. In many areas water resources from highlands run off downwards and bring to low land areas, water and particles of rich soils. The water is thus stored underneath apparently sterile sandy plains and valleys. This allows at times the prevalence of luxuriant agricultural systems.

24. Societies in the region have developed technologies and practices that have succeeded in collecting water and controlling land degradation in the region and in particular in the mountainous areas. A wealth of traditional techniques and technologies will need to be identified, documented and recycled in modern land and water conservation programmes. A number of countries have been developing intense activities and initiatives in watershed management in highlands and mountains with the aim to improve the economy of water resources. FAO has been involved in these in countries such as Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Yemen and many others.

25. Today this cooperation continues and should gain some renewal in the implementation of chapter 13 of agenda 21 and the observance of the International Year of Mountains. Morocco and Tunisia are presently already developing mountain focussed programmes and in Yemen a nation-wide project on watershed management and forestry has a strong potential for supporting and enlarging the country's initiatives to implement chapter 13 and observe the International Year of Mountains.

26. FAO envisages developing a process that focuses on Near East mountains. A networking process will be encouraged and supported to increase regional awareness of the mountain ecosystems in the region, and develop cooperation for the conservation, management and development of mountain resources. This will also build a philosophy and willingness to exchange information on technologies, approaches and experiences in tackling resources conservation and development in mountain systems in the region.