Papallacta, Ecuador, November 17, 2006 – To mitigate the impacts of climate change on mountain ecosystems, a global network of mountain experts urges the world to better protect and restore lands that connect mountain habitats.

            “Connectivity is necessary as a defence against climate change, to protect sources of drinking water, to ensure the survival of wildlife and to preserve resources on which mountain communities depend”, says David Sheppard, Head of the IUCN Global Program on Protected Areas.

            Mountains cover 20 percent of the planet’s terrestrial surface, are the source of to more than half of the Earth’s fresh water, are major centres of global biological and cultural diversity, and are sources of inspiration and spirituality. Yet, mountains have low resilience and high vulnerability to change.

            “Mountains are one of the ecosystems most threatened by climate change,” notes Dr. Fausto Sarmiento, a professor of mountain geography and Deputy Vice Chair of the World Commission of Protected Areas (WCPA) Mountains Biome. “As climates warm, mountain species are forced to move higher up, glaciers disappear at an alarming pace, and fresh water resources are dramatically affected,” he adds.

            In recent decades, parks and other protected areas have been the major tool for maintaining mountain habitats. However, isolated protected areas, regardless of their size, are insufficient to protect the species requiring very large landscapes, or which migrate between upper elevation and lower elevation environments.

            “We need to think big to secure the future for biological diversity,” says Graeme Worboys, Vice Chair of the WPCA Mountains Biome. “Restoring and protecting the habitats that link protected areas is a way of greatly increasing the ability of wild species to move in adaptation to climate change,” he notes.

            Humans are also dependent on mountainous regions. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimates that about 770 million people, or about 12 percent of the world’s population, live in mountain areas.

            “Hillside agricultural ecosystems sustain millions of small farmers, most of whom live in marginalized communities,” states Lawrence Hamilton, Senior Advisor to the Mountains Biome of the WPCA. “About half of these ecosystems show signs of serious environmental degradation, resulting from deforestation, overgrazing and harmful agricultural practices,” he concludes.

            The 40 participants at the Mountain Connectivity Conservation Management workshop in Papallacta representing 17 countries signed a declaration urging communities, governments, non-governmental organizations, businesses, religious groups, academic and research institutions to take coordinated action to engage in connectivity conservation in and around mountain regions. The Papallacta Declaration will be presented to Minister Alfredo Carrasco, Vice Minister of Environment for Ecuador, who opened the conference, as well as other governments and agencies around the world. The work done at the workshop will culminate in a book on Mountain Connectivity Conservation, to be published in 2008.

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