International Mountain Day
11 December (international)
International Mountain Day promotes awareness about the importance of mountains to life.
Mountain splendour
- Mountains host a wide variety of ecosystems, a diversity of species, and distinctive human communities. They support around one quarter of the world's biological diversity; nearly half of the world's biodiversity "hotspots" are concentrated in mountains.
- Mountains are the water towers of the world, providing the freshwater needs of more than half of humanity.
Mountains are exposed to a host of human-induced and natural threats like changes in land cover and agricultural intensification, infrastructure development, armed conflict, fire, climate change and seismic activity. Natural disasters due to climate change are one of the major challenges we face in the next decades. All these pressures damage mountain environments and affect the ecosystems and the livelihoods of people who depend on these ecosystems. We need to manage the way we use mountain resources and systems so that they can provide critical ecosystem services on an ongoing basis. Environmental sustainability supports human sustainability.
More info: http://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/un/international-mountain-day
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