Mountain People

People living with scarce resources. The metaphor is obvious: you can't do things without a minimal amount of inversion. No SoftwareProcess can survive in hostile conditions.

As opposed to ForestPeople.

We are all Mountain People.

Whether we live at sea level or at the highest elevations, we are all mountain people. We are connected to mountains and are affected by mountains in more ways than we can imagine. Mountains provide most of the world's fresh water, harbour as much or more biodiversity than any other areas and are home to at least one in ten people. Yet, war, poverty, hunger, climate change and environmental degradation are threatening the web of life that mountains support. The International Year of Mountains is an opportunity to take steps to protect mountain ecosystems, to promote peace and stability in mountain regions and to help mountain people attain their goals and aspirations. By taking care of the world's mountains, we help to ensure the long-term security and survival of all that is connected to them, including ourselves.

Wherever we may come from, however high or small the hills or mountains may be in the land of our birth, we are all mountain people. We are all dependent on mountains, connected to them, and affected by them, in ways we may never have previously imagined. Mountain areas, with their fragile ecosystems, occupy about one-fifth of the world's land surface area. Moreover, they are also a major source of hydropower and stand as water towers of the world with over half of humanity relying on them for fresh water. While sharing the common physical attributes of steepness and ecological complexities that create natural hazards, microclimates and inaccessibility, they also possess centres of endemism where many species coexist, inhabiting true islands or terrestrial island-like habitats.

Nepal, a mountainous kingdom on the lap of the magnificent snow-capped Himalayas, is home to eight of the world's ten highest peaks rising over 8 000 m, including one called Sagarmatha by the Nepalis, Chomolonga by the Tibetans or Mount Everest by the surveyors, the world's highest mountain. Mountains are a major source of water in our nation, having a potential of producing 83 000 megawatts of hydropower. Nepal is also uniquely privileged to be endowed with spectacular natural beauty and a diverse flora and fauna. We have, over the years, made modest efforts to conserve our fragile ecosystem and improve the well-being of the local communities, through their participation, emphasizing the fact that no conservation programme can succeed if it is divorced from the lives of those it directly affects. Yet, much remains to be done. First, if the problems of environmental degradation and poverty - particularly in the developing world - are to be solved, a continued and sustainable economic development is essential; but we must give due consideration to reconciling environmental protection with economic growth. Second, consensus must also be sought so as to make the application of strict environmental standards symbolic of good economic growth and a clean environment. This wise choice will then encourage innovation and promote inventiveness, efficiency and employment. Last but not least, to achieve the goals of sustainable development and a sound environment, as well as to attain a decent standard of life for all, involves very large changes in attitude.

About 26 percent of the world's population lives in or near mountains (Meybeck, Green and Vörösmarty, 2001), with only 2 percent being residents of the highest mountain chains (Grôtzbach and Stadel, 1997). The peasant inhabitants of high mountain regions, like their counterparts at lower elevations, live in a world of fields, grazing lands and forests which provide them with their main sources of sus-tenance. They are far from the political centres of their nations, not just geographically but in terms of their political participation and influence. Many share the disadvantages of rural poverty and ethnic or religious discri-mination. Mountain peoples, however, face additional challenges to subsistence brought about by elevation, rough topography and severe climate. Even natural disasters such as earthquakes, landslides, avalanches and floods are more likely to occur in mountain areas (Ives, 1997). Highland communities have developed cultural strategies over the centuries to sustain life in their often fragile and unforgiving environments. Their bodies over generations have shortened in most of the higher regions to facilitate cardiovascular efficiency and require less food. Any average European or American who has trekked or climbed will have recognised this as soon as they arrived in the area.

Centuries of trial and error have resulted in distinctive subsistence patterns, social organization and ideology which enable highland peoples such as the Aymara and their Himalayan counterparts to thrive in their harsh mountain environments. Ayni and the entire Aymara labour system are grounded in the ancient Andean notions of dualities and interdependence: of land and people; men and women; heaven and earth. The patron-for-a-day provides for his workers; obligations are strictly accounted and repaid. Men serve their communities by taking on civil-religious roles, sponsoring festivals that link people together in mutual obligations. Women and men work together to sustain their families. Even if domestic violence or a man's absence makes conditions difficult, a woman will rarely break what she sees as the necessary balance of a male-female household. This world requires a commitment to the values of balance and harmony to work well for its inhabitants. When one household or individual is at odds, everyone is potentially affected by the interconnectedness of the kindred, the genders and the generations.

The earth, too, requires balance. Mother Earth must be "paid" with offerings at harvest time and during life transitions. Ceremonies to honour her and perpetuate her bounty are held on hilltops, often at dawn, resonating with Argueda's "lord-mountains" imagery. Natural disasters are also part of the balance: a lightning strike, earthquakes, pestilence, a run of bad luck - all are attributed to an imbalance in the Andean cosmos. Lightning, for example, is a punishment from God, sent through the avenging spirit, Santiago, and directed for example at one who has not been a good, cooperative citizen (Mitchell, 1993). (Both "God" and "Santiago" are folk-Catholic blends of ancient Aymara theology and Spanish imagery.) Other catastrophes may be attributed to local evil spirits if an individual trespasses in their domains. The shamanic spiritual leaders who officiate at important ceremonies blend ancient mountain beliefs with the folk Catholicism of the past 500 years to connect the people with the spirits of the "ancestor peaks".