Sustainable mountain development in East Africa in a changing climate

Background

Mountain ecosystems first received global attention during the United Nations Conference on the Environment and Development (UNCED) in 1992 (the Rio Summit). Mountains are addressed in Chapter 13 of Agenda 21 – Managing Fragile Ecosystems: Sustainable Mountain Development – and are recognized as having unique and fragile ecosystems in need of urgent intervention attention. Ten years later, the World Summit on Sustainable Development was held in Johannesburg in 2002 to review progress of Agenda 21 implementation. As a result of a lack of progress towards the implementation of chapter 13, the ‘Mountain Partnership’, a voluntary alliance of partners dedicated to improving the lives of mountain people and protecting mountain environments around the world, was launched along with theUnitedNationsGeneralAssembly’sDeclaration of 2002 as the ‘International Year of Mountains’. Twenty years later, in June 2012, UNCED and the world community gathered once again in Rio de Janeiro (Rio+20) to further review progress on Agenda 21 implementation and to come up with an agenda to enhance implementation. The final document of the Rio+20 Summit – the Future We Want – contained 283 paragraphs including a specific section on mountains (paragraphs 210- 212), which provides a comprehensive coverage of priority areas for sustainable mountain ecosystem development and actions to further implementation. Subsequently, seventeen ‘Sustainable Development Goals’ (SDGs) were developed, with targets set for 2030. Although the SDGs do not make any direct reference to sustainable mountain ecosystems, goals aimed at addressing water and sanitation, poverty

fourteenth session (12 September 2012) in Arusha, AMCEN made a Declaration on Africa’s post Rio+20 strategy for sustainable development with a reference to mountains in Africa – a strong indication of the continued recognition of the importance of sustainable mountain ecosystem management. This was reiterated at the fifteenth Session of AMCEN held in Cairo from 4-6 March 2015. The Conference committed itself to the development of appropriate institutions, policies, laws and programmes, as well as the strengthening of existing transboundary and regional frameworks on the sustainable management of African mountain ecosystems. In addition, AMCEN agreed to establish and strengthen institutional arrangements for sustainable mountain development, including centres of excellence. Furthermore, AMCEN agreed to strengthen the Africa Regional Mountains Forum to facilitate research, information exchange and policy dialogue. This was in response to the recommendation of the Africa Regional Mountains Forum organized by the African Mountain Partnership in collaboration with the EAC in Arusha, Tanzania, from 22–24 October 2014. This marked a great step towards achieving sustainable ecosystems and the development of mountain regions in Africa and forms a solid basis for the proposed Agenda for the East AfricanMountains. The East Africa Mountain Agenda is, therefore, the culmination of a long process starting with the Global Mountain Agenda from UNCED 1992 through to Rio+20 and its outcomes, with AMCEN/UNEP and EAC continuing to lead in the implementation of the Agenda on the African continent.

Waterfall in Gishwati Forest Preserve, Rwanda

eradication and the promotion of agriculture could be used to develop national and local plans to address issues relevant to mountainous regions. The African Union/AMCEN has increasingly prioritized mountain ecosystems, and has included sustainable mountain ecosystems management among its priority programmes. During its

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