Africa's Mountain Development

From the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro to the Atlas in Morocco, the landscape of Africa's mountain regions constitutes varying and fragile ecosystems with many crucial functions. These include such things as conservation of native biodiversity, and provision of quality water for downstream communities and farmers.

As moist, temperate islands in a dry landscape, they are desired sites for agricultural and grazing expansion and site for towns and ongoing urbanization. They support much subsistence farming for households. Many upper slopes have a degree of protection in reserves or parks, though the integrity of these is continually under threat (e.g. Mount Kenya in Kenya).

In order to set in motion the development of an enhanced mountain agenda for Africa, international experts, researchers and journalists from Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Guinea, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe met in Mbale, Uganda, in late November for three days. Together, they discussed the increasing challenges and opportunities involved in the sustainable development of mountain regions in face of climate change as part of the global "Strategic Initiative for Climate Change Impacts, Adaptation and Development in Mountain Regions":

http://www.mountainpartnership.org/common/files/pdf/EN_22-10_DGF-en-sm.pdf. The meeting was organized by The Mountain Partnership and UNEP.