Bangkok 17-25 November 2004
Initiative promoted by the Italian Ministery of Environment
Bangkok, Thailand, 21 november 2004 (IUCN) - Is cooperation on mountain conservation among the Mediterranean countries useful? Is it needed? What is the best strategy to achieve it? What are the next steps?
Those were few of the questions that guided and animated the workshop on 'Mediterranean Mountains - an alliance for conservation and development' led by the Italian Ministry of Environment at the World Conservation Congress.
Participants from the Mediterranean region gathered at this workshop to look at conservation from a different angle. They are searching for ways to establish a coherent and permanent forum for Mediterranean countries to achieve sustainable development and natural resource management within their mountain ranges.
The delegates shared information and experiences gained at local level, as well as through organisational and scientific knowledge systems. They discussed paths towards sustainable mountain development against the background of different socio-political, economic, and administrative institutions across the region.
The problems that local communities have to struggle against on a daily basis differ quite strongly between the northern and southern countries. The North African countries face problems related to poverty and lack of capacity building. Mountain areas are still one of the poorest parts of those countries and their political influence is small, whereas in the North, mountain areas have a comparatively privileged status with ski resorts, rural tourism, and certified products, amongst other advantages. However their agenda still features many pending questions such as how to maintain biodiversity and wilderness, and what to do about rural land abandonment and increasing transport.
Mountains have been considered as physical obstacles for many years. The workshop participants wanted to stress the relevance of sharing the conservation of the region's mountain areas. It should not be implemented as a collection of separate projects, but rather be achieved through linkages and connectivity and dealing with common resources through common efforts.
The Italian delegation agreed to take the lead in the next steps either by framework agreements, partnerships or even a through a special convention on Mediterranean mountains.
For further information, please contact:
Lourdes Lázaro. -
IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation.