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11/04/2002
Protection of Mountain People and Ecosystems Supported at Summit
Kyrgyzstan hosts first global meeting devoted to mountain issues
The Bishkek Platform, the final product of the Global Mountain Summit, is devoted to improving the livelihoods of mountain people, protection of mountain ecosystems and better use of mountain resources. The four-day summit concluded in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan November 1, according to a news release issued by summit organizers, including the U.N. Environment Program, the government of Kyrgyzstan and donors.
"By bringing the world's mountain community together for the first time, the government of Kyrgyzstan has launched a critical process," said UNEP Deputy Executive Director Shafqat Kakakhel. "Mountains are vital to all life on earth and to the well-being of people everywhere. What happens on the highest peak affects life in the lowlands, in freshwaters and even in the seas."
Delegations from 60 countries participated in the summit, the culminating event of the United Nations International Year of Mountains.
Further details on the summit are available at http://www.globalmountainsummit.org/
Following is the text of the summit press release:
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Bishkek Global Mountain Summit
Action To Prevent Environmental Disaster In Central Asia Signals Positive Outcome Of First-ever Global Mountain Summit
Action to prevent a potentially devastating environmental disaster in one of the most densely populated areas of Central Asia was announced here in the final hours of the Bishkek Global Mountain Summit.
Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan/Nairobi, 1 November 2002 - The Chairman of the Summit, President of Kyrgyzstan, Askar Akaev, told journalists that the government of Norway has offered to help clean up dangerous nuclear waste dumps near the town of Maily-Suu, high up in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan.
The waste, stored in deteriorating tailings dams, threatens to spill into rivers that flow from Kyrgyzstan into the fertile Fergana valley below (much of it in neighboring Uzbekistan), and home to almost 20 per cent of Central Asia's entire population.
President Akaev said "ten million people were threatened by the waste", and that the support from Norway and other donors showed how "attitudes were changing towards mountain countries." He said the new initiative demonstrated "an example of concrete action" as a result of the International Year of Mountains and the Bishkek Summit.
The meeting here in Bishkek, the first-ever Global Mountain Summit, ended today. It was organized by the government of Kyrgyzstan with support from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and other partners.
As the culminating global event of the United Nations International Year of Mountains (IYM), a "Bishkek Mountain Platform" document was unanimously adopted by what has been the largest ever gathering of governments, international organizations, NGOs and individuals concerned with mountain issues. The document will be forwarded to the United Nations General Assembly by the government of Kyrgyzstan.
The Platform, the main output of the Bishkek Summit, is designed to guide governments and everyone involved with mountain issues on future activities and actions in the 21st century. Its ultimate goal is to improve the livelihoods of mountain people, to protect mountain ecosystems and to use mountain resources more wisely.
At the global level, the Bishkek Platform supports the International Partnership for Sustainable Development in Mountain Regions, agreed at the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development, as the framework to provide follow-up to the IYM.
A generous contribution by the governments of Italy and Switzerland will help FAO, as the lead agency of the IYM, and UNEP to ensure that follow-up institutional arrangements are made, including support to the proposed creation of a Network of Development Mountain States and Regions which forms part of the Partnership.
"The Bishkek Platform is an important document that will help, among other things, to ensure environmentally sound management in mountain regions, particularly in developing countries," said Shafqat Kakakhel, UNEP's Deputy Executive Director.
"The Bishkek Summit has been extremely rich in substance and represents the largest ever assembly of ideas, reviews and actions on mountain issues," Kakakhel continued. "By bringing the world's mountain community together for the first time, the government of Kyrgyzstan has launched a critical process," he said. "Mountains are vital to all life on earth and to the well-being of people everywhere. What happens on the highest peak affects life in the lowlands, in freshwaters and even in the seas."
Mountain areas cover 26 percent of the Earth's land surface and host 12 percent of its people. They provide essential resources for both mountain and lowland people, including fresh water for at least half of humanity, critical reserves of biodiversity, food, forests and minerals. According to the Bishkek Platform, climate change, natural hazards and other forces are threatening the complex webs of life that mountains support.
Over 600 people from sixty countries have been meeting here for four days in the capital of Kyrgyzstan, one of the most mountainous countries in the world.
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(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
