INTRODUCTION

AfroMont is a network of scientists and environmental and resource specialists that promote research into and implementation of sustainable livelihoods in mountain areas of Africa within the context of long term climate change.

About one eighth of the surface of the world is comprised of mountains. This comprises more than 16 millions square kilometres. Because of this, the ways in which humans use and manage mountain regions is important.

Mountains are the water towers of the world. Because of their elevation, they force moist wind upwards, resulting in high rainfall on these mountains. In some mountain areas, the water runoff per area is more than three times more than the overall average water runoff. Many mountains are in areas with low rainfall or semi-deserts, for instance the Andes Mountains in South America, the Rocky Mountains in North America and the Himalayas in Asia. In these areas, the water runoff from mountains is critical for the survival of humans that live in closeby. Mountains do not only supply water to the immediate areas, but also to many distant areas via the river systems that originate in the mountains. In fact, it is estimated that more than half of the world's human population is dependent on water from mountains. For instance the Rwenzori Mountains largely contribute to the water of Lake Victoria which then runs via the Nile River into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile River is a major source of water for Uganda, DRC, Southern Sudan, Sudan and Egypt. The Drakensberg Mountains in southern Africa supply most of the water to that region.

Photo: The Rwenzori Mountains provide water to several African countries

Although mountains only comprise some 12% of the world surface, it is estimated that they house between 20 and 40% of the overall biodiversity. There are several reasons for this, including high rainfall, great variety of climatic zones and habitats and the degree to which mountains are isolated from one another. Besides water and biodiversity, mountains offer several other natural resources, e.g. wood, fertile soil and an environment free of tropical diseases.

Mountains are very vulnerable to the effect of long term climate change. The long term temperature increase at high elevations is more than in lowlands. Predictions making use of data from the Global Climate Observation System (GCOS) predict that, with a doubling of greenhouse gas concentrations, temperatures on mountains exceeding 4000 m in altitude, there will be a temperature increase of more than 3°C. This is expected to have strongly negative effects on humans that are dependent on water and other resources from these mountains.

The FAO estimate that, in 2000, more than 625 million of vulnerable people of the world live in mountainous areas of developing countries only. For this reason, the sustainable management of mountain areas within the context of long term climate change is very important. AfroMont is committed towards improving the knowledge and skills required to achieve sustainability of livelihoods in mountain areas.
 

Some interesting reading:

Paolo Ceci, Thomas Hofer, Sara Manuelli, Rosalaura Romeo, and Claudia Veith (2011) The FAO and Mountain Partnership engagement with mountains. Mountain Research and Development 31,54-57.

Christian Körner, Jens Paulsen and Eva M. Spehn (2011)  A definition of mountains and their bioclimatic belts for global comparisons of biodiversity data. Alpine Botany 121:73–78

Christian Körner (2004) Mountain biodiversity, its causes and function.  Ambio 13:11-17.

Bruno Messerli, Daniel Viviroli and Rolf Weingartner (2004) Mountains of the World: Vulnerable Water Towers for the 21st Century. Ambio 13: 29-34