11 December 2016: International Mountain Day

International Mountain Day is celebrated annually on 11 December.

The United Nations International Year of Mountains was held in 2002. As 2002 concluded, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed an annual International Mountain Day to draw attention to the important roles that mountainous regions play in water and food supply. The day was 11 December.

Covering around 22% of the earth’s land surface, mountains play a critical role in sustainable economic growth. They not only provide sustenance and wellbeing to 915 million mountain people around the world, representing 13% of the global population, but they also indirectly benefit billions of people living downstream. In particular, mountains provide freshwater, energy, and food. However, mountains also have a high incidence of communities affected by poverty – one out of every three mountain people in developing countries is vulnerable to food insecurity and faces poverty and isolation.

Each year International Mountain Day has a particular theme. The 2016 them for International Mountain Day is ‘Mountain Cultures: celebrating diversity and strengthening identity.’

The concept of traditional heritage, culture and spirituality is intrinsically linked with people’s livelihoods in the mountains. For mountain people, the land, water and forests are not simply natural resources. They follow in the footsteps of their ancestors. Their traditional knowledge is key to managing and enhancing the resilience of fragile ecosystems. Mountains are also places of tourism and cultural trails, from skiing to climbing.

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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