The MRI

Although mountain regions occupy only about one-fifth of the Earth's surface, they provide goods and services to about half of humanity. Mountain environments are also particularly sensitive to the impact of climate change. Inter- and transdisciplinary approaches and intense international collaboration in both research and policy design are called for to tackle this major challenge of the 21st century.

Witin this larger framework, the objectives of the Mountain Research Initiative are to

• develop strategies for detecting signals of global environmental change in mountain environments
• define the consequences of global environmental change for mountain regions as well as lowland systems dependent on mountain resources (highland-lowland interactions)
• design proposals towards sustainable land, water, and resource management for mountain regions at local to regional scales