Global Change in Mountain Regions

The Mountain Research Initiative

Newsletter of the Mountain Research Initiative

MRI NEWS
no. 7, 2012
Contents
Editorial
Claudia Drexler: MRI Communications: choose your favorite format 3

Directors Notes
Greg Greenwood: MRI: What comes next? 4

Science Peaks
Daniel Ruiz et al: Five-tiered integrated climate-related biodiversity vulnerability assessment in the Tropical Andes 7
Maya Ishizawa and Gerhard Wiegleb: Cultural landscapes in the Andes and the Pyrenees 12
Bodo Bookhagen: Changes in sediment transport rates through time 15
Ismael Vaccaro and Oriol Beltran: Consuming space, nature and culture 18
Peter Hartsough and Matthew Meadows: Critical Zone Observatory: snowline processes in the Southern Sierra Nevada 22
Van Butsic: 200 years of land use change in the Carpathian Basin 25
Prakash Tiwari and Bhagwati Joshi: Urban growth in Himalaya 29

News from MRIs Regional Networks

Saliou Niassy: AfroMont: Legacy, Role, and Vision 33
Christian Devenish: MRI in the Americas: Transecto Cordillera Americana (TCA) 38
TCA News: International Mountain Day 2012 45
TCA News: Project CIMA 46
TCA News: Climate Change in mountain ecosystems 48
Astrid Bjrnsen: MRI Europe Progress Report 50
MRI Europe: CH-AT Alliance. 3 questions for Rolf Weingartner 54
ubo Halada: S4C, Science for the Carpathians 56

Meeting Reports
Colin Filer: Traditional environmental knowledge 59

The Mountain Research Initiative

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Erlachstrasse 9a, Trakt 3, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
+41 (0)31 631 51 41, mri@giub.unibe.ch

This Newsletter is published once a year.

Editors: Claudia Drexler and Gregory Greenwood. Design and Layout: Claudia Drexler
The MRI and its products are supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation.
If you have been forwarded this newsletter and would like to subscribe directly to the MRI database please go to
http://mri.scnatweb.ch
Editorial

MRI Communications:
choose your favorite format
erally hundreds of websites journals,
research institutions, NPOs to make
them accessible to you.
sized information. Find a quiet time,
say on the train, and read a whole ar-
ticle without zapping on.

MRI communications have changed
in the last years in line with the larg-
er revolution in daily and professional
communications.
While 10 years ago corporate commu-
nications were still about broadcasting
undifferentiated messages to a mass
audience, corporations now send cus-
tomized messages, often calibrated on
individual preferences. Similarly, in ad-
dition to sending out messages to our
entire mailing list, we target segments
of our audience to receive specific in-
formation.
Regional networks:
customized information
MRIs regional networks define spe-
cific target audiences for our communi-
cation efforts. AfroMont, the Transecto
Cordillera Americana TCA, Science for
the Carpathians S4C, the South Eastern
European Mountain Research Network
SEEmore, and MRI Europe are the net-
works that MRI maintains. Their re-
spective websites on mri.scnatweb.ch
are the pivot of the information flow.
We have spent a lot of time investigat-
ing and implementing functionalities
so that now we can offer regional news
and events, regional blogs, and regional
experts databases. The regional news
look simple, but there is a complex sys-
tem behind them. Through so-called
pipes we filter relevant news from lit-
The audience should talk Last, but not least, print this Newsletter
back out and see how it feels: Paper is soon
Corporate communications have not to be the last medium I can use without
only become customized, but also in- anyone reading along who knows my lo-
teractive. And this is where you come cation and who suggests the perfect prod-
in. The MRI community has a long tra- ucts to buy. Frank Schirrmacher [1] .
dition of contributing content. A good
part of the regional news and the news-
flashes consists of your contributions.
You seem to be shyer, though, when it
comes to actually entering the dialogue
with MRI. Try our guest blog to talk
about what is important to you. Let the Claudia Drexler,
mountain research community know MRI Communications Manager
when a combination of digital sensor
data with historical weather records
leads to new insights, or when you have
run successful working meetings with
researchers and delegates from relevant
Ministries. Use Facebook or Wiki-
pedia to tell and gather stories about
those mountain ranges less researched.
Tibesti, Itombwe, Koytendag and Na-
huelbuta there are many, and we only
know only a little about them.
Paper: something special
You might wonder what all this talk
about customized information and so-
cial media has to do with this very tra-
ditional Newsletter no.7 in front of you.
We believe that in the world of custom-
ized information there is still a value
in a broader overview. Even if you are
working in the Turkish mountains there
is no harm done, indeed you might ac-
tually learn something new and useful
when you read what is going on in the
American Cordillera. Even if you are
working on biodiversity there is no
1 Frank Schirrmacher, cited in M. Bernet 2010 So-
harm done when you read about urban- cial Media in der Medienarbeit, p. 7.
ization in mountains.
And, certainly, there is a value to in-
depth information in the times of bite

Mountain Research Initiative Newsletter no. 7, 2012 3

Directors Notes

MRI: What Comes Next?

tem of atmosphere, oceans and conti-

nents - is one of MRIs principal sci-
entific goals. The MRI makes liberal
use of the analytical structure of
its parent scientific organization, the
Global Land Project, as it captures
the linkages and the embedded-ness
and speaks as well to the evolution
of the whole system toward or away
from sustainability.

This emphasis on whole systems cre-

The MRI continually searches for the
next steps in promoting global change
research in mountains. Since the Swiss
National Science Foundation (SNSF)
renewed the MRIs funding in 2010,
the MRI has pursued its program of
global and regional networking activ-
ities, synthesis workshops, and new
communication modes, but is going
beyond them now to investigate more
sustained efforts.
While any research into global change
in mountains represents progress, re-
search that adds to an understanding of
the whole system - the coupled human-
natural system within mountains as it is
embedded within the planetary earth sys-
ates a certain tension in MRIs work,
as research by its analytic nature,
tends to focus on mechanisms and
parts of systems. This is as it should
be: to create an integrated understanding,
one must have parts to integrate! Thus,
while encouraging research on specific
parts of the coupled human-natural sys-
tem, MRI must at the same time promote
the continual interrogation of how these
parts come together to create a whole
system.
To achieve an understanding of the whole
system, MRI must work to create true
community out of a collection of dispa-
rate researchers and institutions. When-
ever MRI invokes community it is per-
haps more a statement of a goal than a
Figure 1: The Global Land Project analytical
structure (GLP 2005)
characterization of the current condition.
MRI works toward community via enti-
ties such as its regional networks in Af-
rica, Latin America, and Europe and via
sister organizations such as CIRMOUNT
under the presumption that more frequent
exchange between researchers working
in the same region will lead eventually to
more collaboration on the understanding
of the whole system.
Building community requires years, if
not decades, while MRI is funded on a

Figure 2: The MRI Global Commission brought together researchers Figure 3: Brainstorming the MRIs future: Dr. Hilde Eggermont (Uni-
from around the world and across a wide range of disciplines. versity of Ghent) describes her vision, Dr. Greg Greenwood listens
while Dr. Astrid Bjrnsen Gurung captures the ideas in a mind map.

4 Mountain Research Initiative Newsletter no. 7, 2012

three year cycle by the Swiss National
Science Foundation (SNF). As such each
successive proposal to the SNF tracks
progress toward this long term goal.

For several years we have been using

the 4 Is as a heuristic to describe out
program: Initiation of activities, Imple-
mentation of research, Integration of
results and Information for stakehold-
ers. To date we have concentrated our
effort on Initiation via our Key Contact
Workshops and regional networks, Inte-
gration via our Synthesis Workshops and
Information through Mountain.TRIP. As
we are not funded to do research our-
selves, it is difficult to approach Imple-
Nam Co, Tibet. Endorheic lakes in Tibet are expanding over time most likely due to glacier recession.
mentation directly. The best we can do is Valuable adjacent grazing lands are thus lost to flooding. Greg Greenwood
to attempt to align researchers in differ-
ent countries around common research
themes, so that their research, funded
through their particular mechanisms,
creates a longer-term coherent program. MRIs Concerted Efforts

MRI Global Commission 1. A modeling project to estimate changes in mountain ecosystems with a 3-5 C mean
The Conference Global Change and annual temperature.
the Worlds Mountains in Perth in 2010
provided a snapshot of the current status 2. A Global Mountain Treeline Network to detect, classify and understand the changes
of global change research in the worlds occurring in mountain treeline ecosystems
mountains from which the community
constructed assessments of important fu- 3. A method of quantifying mountain ecosystem services that leads to an atlas portray-
ture research themes (Greenwood 2010, ing ecosystem services from mountain regions worldwide.
Bjrnsen et al. 2012).
4. Locally relevant global change research agendas, developed in ways that promote
To translate these general themes into funding and eventual use of results.
more concrete actions, the MRI convened
a one-day workshop of the MRI Global 5. A book project that explores why and how decisions are made that strongly influ-
Commission at Imperial College on 30 ence the trajectory of the coupled human-earth system in mountains.
March 2012 immediately following the
IGBP Planet Under Pressure Conference. 6. Coupled human-earth system models of specific mountain regions, which can also
The MRI Global Commission consists of be part of mountain observing systems (II)
the Swiss Principal Investigators who
sponsor the MRI at the SNSF and MRIs 7. A multi-year campaign to answer key question(s) related to high elevation.
Scientific Advisory Board augmented by
active mountain researchers. 8. A network of representative sites in mountain regions around the world wherein
researchers follow similar integrated monitoring protocols and address common ques-
The Global Commission brainstormed tions regarding coupled human-natural systems in mountains.
what the community should do with re-
spect to each of these themes resulting in 9. A book project on the nature and drivers of human use of mountains
10 detailed mind maps. From these mind
maps (available at http://mri.scnatweb.
ch/gallery/63) MRI created initial de-
scriptions of nine Concerted Efforts,
projects with a longer time frame than
that of a workshop, projects that will
allow MRI to address Implementation
more directly in the coming years.

Mountain Research Initiative Newsletter no. 7, 2012 5

 Much more detailed description of each
of these Concerted Efforts can be
found on the MRI website http://mri.
scnatweb.ch/team/second-global-com-
mision-meeting. In addition I have de-
scribed certain of these Concerted Efforts
in greater detail via a discussion paper
posted on the MtnClim 2012 webpage
(http://www.fs.fed.us/psw/mtnclim/pro-
gram/) and in the next issue of Mountain
Research and Development (N 32(4))
This portfolio of Concerted Efforts
looks both down to specific issues and
up to whole systems, reconciling to the
degree possible, the tension embodied in
MRIs work. These projects, or ones sim-
ilar to them, will very likely form a major
part of MRIs next three year program.
References
Bjrnsen Gurung, Astrid, Susanne Wymann von Dach, Martin F. Price, Rich-
ard Aspinall, Jrg Balsiger, Jill S. Baron, Eklabya Sharma, Greg Greenwood,
and Thomas Kohler. 2012. Global change and the worlds mountains research
needs and emerging themes for sustainable development. Mountain Research
and Development, 32(S1):S47-S54. 2012. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1659/MRD-
JOURNAL-D-11-00084.S1
GLP (2005) Science Plan and Implementation Strategy. IGBP Report No. 53/
IHDP
Report No. 19. IGBP Secretariat, Stockholm. 64pp.
Greenwood, Gregory. 2010. Perth II: emerging themes and research gaps. MRI
News N 5, 23-25

Greg Greenwood
Executive Director, MRI
green@giub.unibe.ch

http://mri.scnatweb.ch/the-mri/news/
mri-director-s-blog.html

6 Mountain Research Initiative Newsletter no. 7, 2012

Science Peaks
Five-tiered integrated climate-
related biodiversity vulnerability
assessment in the Tropical Andes
Daniel Ruiz Carrascal, Sebastian K. Herzog, Peter M. Jrgensen, Trond H. Larsen, Rodney Martnez,
Juan Jos Nieto, Susan V. Poats, Marcella Ohira
The Tropical Andes are one of the top
biodiversity hotspots on Earth. Long-
term climate change and rapid land-
use change are both threatening the
integrity and functioning of Andean
ecosystems and thereby the environ-
mental goods and services they pro-
vide to humans (Herzog et al., 2011).
Whereas numerous global and re-
gional climate models exist, climate
change and vulnerability analyses at
a local scale the scale most relevant
to decision makers and land-use plan-
ners are virtually non-existent in the
Andes.
With regard to biodiversity, large-scale
patterns and gradients of species rich-
ness are fairly well established in the re-
gion for a handful of selected taxonomic
groups, but vast knowledge gaps exist at
smaller spatial scales and for the great
majority of taxonomic groups. Local bio-
logical inventory data, where available,
have not been integrated into multidisci-
plinary analyses. Furthermore, although
recent advances in the mapping and clas-
sification of Andean ecosystems repre-
sent immense progress, the vulnerability
of these ecosystems to climate change
can only be crudely guessed in the most
general terms. Thus, an integration of all
this available information and approach-
es into local-scale analyses represents a
novel approach in the Andes.
In this five-tiered project we are study-
Mountain Research Initiative Newsletter no. 7, 2012
ing near-term climate change trends,
land-use patterns, biodiversity patterns
and gradients, the vulnerability of spe-
cies and ecosystems to changes in his-
torical climatic conditions, as well as lo-
cal perceptions of climate variability and
change in two binational transboundary
Thus, an integration of all
this available information
and approaches into local
scale analyses represents a
novel approach in the
Andes.
study areas: on the Pacific slope of the
northern Andes in the border region be-
tween Colombia (Nario department)
and Ecuador (Carchi province), and on
the Amazonian slope of the central An-
des in the border region between Bolivia
and Peru, in the Madidi Apolobamba
Bahuaja-Sonene Tambopata protect-
ed area complex. These regions are re-
nowned for their exceptional biodiversity
and endemism and have been considered
key Andean biodiversity hotspots. Re-
sults will then be integrated to pinpoint
high-risk areas and ecosystems that are
particularly vulnerable to the synergistic
effects of long-term climatic changes and
land-use change. Our interest is to assist
the four Tropical Andean countries (Bo-
livia, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru) in
the implementation of a standard meth-
odology for estimating climate change
risks for biodiversity at a local scale that
could subsequently be expanded to other
strategic areas. The overall goal is to sup-
port and guide adaptation measures and
sustained conservation programs for key
tropical environments. Here we briefly
describe some recent advances of the cli-
mate analyses and summarize the objec-
tives of the main components (climate,
biodiversity, social, land use/cover, and
outreach and capacity building) of our
ongoing research project[1] .
The climate component
The main objective of the climate com-
ponent[2] is to develop knowledge on
1 The multidisciplinary project Impacts of climate
change on biodiversity in the Tropical Andes: climate-
related vulnerability assessments and improved
decision making processes for conservation and land
use planning in two Andean biodiversity hotspots is
funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur
Foundation through a grant to the Inter-American
Institute for Global Change Research. D. Ruiz is also
partially supported (as in-kind contribution) by the
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at
Columbia University in the City of New York (USA),
the International Research Institute for Climate and
Society at Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (USA),
and the Antioquia School of Engineering (Colombia).
2 The following scientists participate as co-PIs: Dr.
Mark Cane (Department of Earth and Environmental
Sciences at Columbia University in the City of New
York, USA), Dr. Jorge Ignacio del Valle (Universi-
dad Nacional de Colombia Sede Medelln), Dr. Laia
Andreu Hayles (The Tree Ring Laboratory, Lamont-
Doherty Earth Observatory-Columbia University in
the City of New York, USA), ngel G. Muoz (PhD
student at Department of Earth and Environmental
Sciences at Columbia University in the City of New
York, USA), David Suarez Duque, MSc. (Corporacin
Grupo Randi Randi-Ecuador), and Remi Cousin (Staff
Associate at International Research Institute for Cli-
mate and Society, Columbia University in the City of
7
 Five-tiered integrated climate-related biodiversity vulnerability assessment in the Tropical Andes

Figure 1. 1950-2010 long-term linear trends in ECHAM4.5 mean annual air temperatures (Roeckner et al., 1996) along the longitudinal axis of the Andes
Cordillera (see pink 2.8125 grid cells in map panel on the left; location of the ecotransects under study indicated with horizontal arrows), for the latitudi-
nal range of 15N to 60S, and for 9 pressure levels (1000, 950, 850, 700, 500, 400, 300, 200, and 100 mb; see x-axis of right panel). Air temperatures are
obtained through ECHAM4.5 ensemble simulation runs. Trends are expressed in C per decade; see color scale on the right. Only statistically significant
(at <0.05) long-term linear trends are displayed; i.e. nonsignificant trends are depicted by white boxes. Black triangles and crosses depict, respectively,
the average and maximum altitudes (expressed in atmospheric pressures) of the NOAA NGDC GLOBE gridded 1-km, quality controlled global digital
elevation model (Hastings and Dunbar, 1999) in each ECHAM4.5 model grid cell. Areas blocked in grey depict grid boxes below the ground surface.
Analyses of ECHAM4.5 simulation runs indicate, in particular, that air temperatures have increased at all latitudes and pressure levels at a rate ranging
from +0.03 to +0.40 C per decade. Between 15N and 15S and at higher elevations [100-400 mb], air temperatures have increased at a maximum rate
ranging from +0.27 to +0.40 C per decade. This rate of warming in the upper troposphere in the 15N to 15S latitudinal range is 1.8 times greater than
that simulated for the lower troposphere over the available 61-year historical period. Note also the differences above and below the tropopause, which is
defined as 100 mb at the equator with a linear increase with latitude to 300 mb at the poles.

local climate gradients and to determine
short- to medium-term climate scenar-
ios (10-20 years ahead) by combining
observed and projected climate trends
derived from computer modeling, cli-
matological field stations (ground-truth
data), climate change indices, local
temperature and humidity records from
digital sensors, and reconstructions of
pre-instrumental periods through clas-
sical dendrochronological techniques
(tree-ring records). Statistical analyses of
observed and simulated data include Em-
pirical Orthogonal Functions/Principal
Component Analyses, observatory and
confirmatory (hypothesis tests) analyses
for the detection of statistically signifi-
New York, USA). The following students participate as
Graduate Research Assistants: David Andrs Herrera
(MSc candidate at Universidad Nacional de Colombia
Sede Medelln), Fabian Suntaxi (MSc candidate at
Escuela Politcnica del Litoral-ESPOL-Ecuador), and
Segundo Chimbolema (Corporacin Grupo Randi
Randi-Ecuador).
cant long-term trends as well as changes
in the mean and the variance, and assess-
ments of spatial and altitudinal patterns.
Spatial scales of analysis include local
and regional conditions. Analyses of the
former include case studies in the two bi-
With these binational
regions (...) climate-related
risk assessments of highly
strategic Andean environments
at local scale are now cov-
ering three study sites in the
northern and central Andes.
national transboundary areas specifically
examining historical minimum tempera-
tures, maximum temperatures, and daily
rainfall. With these binational regions,
and with a similar ongoing initiative in
Los Nevados Natural Park in the Colom-
bian Central Andean region (Ruiz et al.,
2012), climate-related risk assessments
of highly strategic Andean environments
at local scale are now covering three
study sites in the northern and central
Andes. Analyses of regional conditions
are based on evidence from near-term
historical climate models simulation
runs (reanalysis data) and comprise the
full length of the Andes Cordillera and
all pressure levels (Figure 1). The group
is specifically studying long-term trends
and changes in 1950-to present mean an-
nual near-surface and free air tempera-
tures, environmental lapse rates, dew
points, specific humidity, squared moist
and dry Brunt-Visl frequencies, lift-
ing condensation levels, and convective
available potential energies, all of them
suggested by ensemble simulation out-
puts. Analyses of regional conditions are
complemented with the study of cloud

8 Mountain Research Initiative Newsletter no. 7, 2012

Colombian-Ecuadorian Altitudinal Ecotransect Daniel Ruiz Carrascal
characteristics suggested by satellite
records and monthly sea surface tem-
perature anomalies observed in the spa-
tial domains [30S-30N, 30E-90W]
of the tropical Indo-Pacific region and
[30S-30N, 60W-15E] of the tropical
Atlantic Ocean over the period 1942-to
present.
At least 12 data loggers/digital sen-
sors measuring temperature and rela-
tive humidity at hourly intervals have
been installed in each of the study areas
to complement the available hydrome-
teorological networks, which include 75
and 17 weather stations in the Colom-
Figure 2. Vertical profile of the 4,500 m altitudinal ecotransect and location of the temperature/
relative humidity data loggers on the Amazonian slope of the Central Andes, in the border region
between Bolivia and Peru.
Mountain Research Initiative Newsletter no. 7, 2012
bian-Ecuadorian and Bolivian-Peruvian
transboundary regions, respectively.
Data loggers have been deployed at el-
evational intervals of 500 meters across
two ca. 4,500 m altitudinal gradients
(Figure 2) and in as many ecosystems
as possible. Gathered data are improv-
ing our understanding of the physical
processes taking place along the altitu-
dinal transects such as conditions of at-
mospheric instability, and local seasonal
temperature and precipitation anomalies.
A better understanding of local mecha-
nisms and their relationships with inter-
annual (El Nio-Southern Oscillation
events) to multi-decadal phenomena
will provide elements for the analysis of
long-term changes and for better simula-
tion and validation efforts. Digital sensor
data are currently being combined with
weather station records, whose historical
periods span over 50 years, to build a set
of climate change indices and to assess
near-term historical conditions of atmo-
Digital sensor data are
currently being combined
with weather station records,
whose historical periods
span over 50 years
spheric instability and moist convection
in the two study areas. The dendrochro-
nological work, in turn, aims to recon-
struct the past ca. 100-200 years along
the upper portion of the elevational gra-
dients. A long list of Andean tree species
has been analyzed to identify key spe-
cies with sufficiently wide elevational
ranges, distinctive annual rings, and long
life spans. The result, a short list of tree
species with dendrochronological poten-
tial currently includes 5 species for the
analysis of pramo environments and
high-Andean forests (such as Polylepis
incana and Weinmannia cochensis) and
5 species in upper cloud forests (such as
Symplocos carmencitae, Ocotea sp. and
Cedrela montana). The oldest individu-
als of the selected tree species have been
georeferenced, initially in the Colombia-
Ecuador border area, in relatively well
9
 Five-tiered integrated climate-related biodiversity vulnerability assessment in the Tropical Andes

preserved environments. To date the
group has sampled 64 increment cores of
W. cochensis, 139 of P. incana, 76 of S.
carmencitae, 65 of Ocotea, and 64 of C.
montana. Tree-ring width chronologies
are currently under construction and ra-
diocarbon analyses will be used to assess
periodicity (i.e. annual) of tree rings in
different species.
The biodiversity component
The main objectives of the biodiver-
sity component include: (i) to develop
knowledge on current biodiversity pat-
terns (by ecosystem) and gradients (by
elevation) using several higher taxo-
nomic groups of plants (e.g., ferns, bro-
meliads, palms) and two animal groups
(birds, dung beetles) as proxies for over-
all diversity, based on existing species-
locality data and on field inventories
where knowledge gaps exist; and (ii) to
evaluate the vulnerability of species and
ecosystems (based on the pooled vulner-
ability of their component species) to cli-
mate change using the NatureServe Cli-
mate Change Vulnerability Index (http://
www.natureserve.org/prodServices/cli-
matechange/ccvi.jsp).
The social component
The main objective of the social compo-
nent is to consult local communities on
ecosystem goods and services of par-
ticular value to them, on their perception
of any changes in the provisioning of
such goods and services due to climate
change, and on whether local land-use
practices and patterns have been already
adapted or changed in response to cli-
mate change. Within this component, the
Corporacin Grupo Randi Randi, based
in Quito, Ecuador, conducted a survey
Within this component, the
Corporacin Grupo Randi
Randi, based in Quito,
Ecuador, conducted a survey
of 545 persons (...) to learn
more about local perceptions
of climate change (...).
of 545 persons (50% women) during
2011 to learn more about local percep-
tions of climate change and how people
are making adaptations to changes per-
ceived in their local climates. The sur-
vey sites comprise a series of transects
across sections of the western flanks of
the Andes in the north (southern Colom-
bia and northern Ecuador), and sections
of the eastern flanks in the south (south-
ern Peru and northern Bolivia) within
the two transboundary Andean areas
defined for the larger study. The surveys
were complemented with key informant
in-depth interviews in each community
surveyed, together with participatory
mapping exercises on vulnerability with
focus groups composed of local men and
women. The initial results of this study
will be available in late 2012.
The land-use component
The land-use component aims to deter-
mine land-use types and patterns based
on satellite imagery and local informa-
tion, and to relate biodiversity and vul-
nerability patterns/gradients to existing
climate gradients, climate change trends
and forecasts, land-use patterns, and pre-
dicted changes in land-use due to climate
change using Geographic Information
Systems.
The outreach/capacity
building component
Finally, the main objectives of the out-
reach and capacity building component
include: (a) to determine potential adap-
tive management measures and actions
to increase the resilience of high-risk
biodiversity areas to climate change; (b)
to provide capacity building on the devel-
oped tools and analysis to institutions in
Andean countries including Ministries of
Environment, National Climate Change
Adaptation Programs, meteorological
services, universities, and non-govern-
mental organizations to ensure that the
approach can be replicated elsewhere;
and (c) to disseminate the results and
conclusions in order to facilitate their in-
corporation into action plans of national
and international institutions.

Authors

Daniel Ruiz Carrascal1

Associate Professor, Escuela de Ingeniera de Antioquia EIA, Colombia, pfcarlos@eia.edu.co, International Research Insti-
tute for Climate and Society (IRI) Columbia University in the City of New York, USA
pfcarlos@iri.columbia.edu
Sebastian K. Herzog, Asociacin Armona, Bolivia
Peter M. Jrgensen, Missouri Botanical Garden, USA
Trond H. Larsen, Conservation International, USA
Rodney Martnez, Centro Internacional para la Investigacin del Fenmeno El Nio CIIFEN, Ecuador
Juan Jos Nieto, Centro Internacional para la Investigacin del Fenmeno El Nio CIIFEN, Ecuador
Susan V. Poats, Corporacin Grupo Randi Randi CGRR, Ecuador
Marcella Ohira, Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research IAI, Brazil

10 Mountain Research Initiative Newsletter no. 7, 2012

References

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on, Volume 1.0. Key to Geophysical Records Documentation (KGRD) 34. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
National Geophysical Data Center, 325 Broadway, Boulder, Colorado 80303, U.S.A.

Herzog, S.K., Martnez, R., Jrgensen, P.M., Tiessen, H., Eds., 2011. Climate change and biodiversity in the Tropical An-
des. Inter-American Institute of Global Change Research (IAI) and Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment
(SCOPE), So Jos dos Campos and Paris, 348 pp., ISBN: 978-85-99875-05-6.

Roeckner, E., Arpe, K., Bengtsson, L., Christoph, M., Claussen, M., Dmenil, L., Esch, M., Giorgetta, M., Schlese, U., Schul-
zweida, U., 1996. The atmospheric general circulation model ECHAM4: model description and simulation of present-day
climate. Max-Planck-Institut fr Meteorologie Rep. 218, Hamburg, Germany, 90 pp.

Ruiz, D., Martinson, D.G., Vergara, W., 2012. Trends, stability and stress in the Colombian Central Andes. Climatic Change
112 (3): 717-732.

Mountain Research Initiative Newsletter no. 7, 2012 11

Science Peaks

Cultural landscapes in the

Andes and the Pyrenees
Comparative Study of Landscape Management as a
Conservation Strategy

Maya Ishizawa and Gerhard Wiegleb

Mountain regions are characterized

by historical and natural assets, as
well as by traditional knowledge re-
lated to human adaptation to the en-
vironment, frequently leading to a
particular cultural landscape closely
associated with the mountain ecosys-
tem. Such is the case in both the An-
des and the Pyrenees. However both
the Andes and the Pyrenees are un-
dergoing rapid modernisation, and
commodification through tourism ex-
ploitation with both cultural and en-
vironmental impacts. Environmen-
tal knowledge and the continuity of
these mountain cultures are thus in
danger. This study argues that land-
scape management could contribute
to a comprehensive conservation of Figure 1: Urban sprawl in the terraces of the Andes (Ollantaytambo, Peru) Maya Ishizawa

cultural landscapes, enabling change

while simultaneously respecting the
right to cultural continuity of moun-
tain communities.
Cultural landscapes
The conservation of dynamic cultural
landscapes is a complex task. A land-
scape system arises from geological,
biophysical and socio-ecological factors
that interact to produce environmental
complexities, with natural and cultural
values intertwined and a diversity of
actors with different interests chang-
ing over time. In 1992, cultural land-
scapes became a category of heritage
within the framework of the UNESCO
1972 Convention for the Protection of
the World Cultural and Natural Heri-
tage. This new category signals a shift
in the paradigm of heritage conserva-
tion, moving from a focus on the pro-
tection of a monument or a site, to the
protection of the relationship between
people and their environment (Fowler
In 1992, cultural land-
scapes became a category
of heritage within the frame-
work of the UNESCO 1972
Convention (...).
2003; UNESCO, World Heritage Com-
mittee 2011).
Landscape management
By comparing two heritage sites, the
study assesses landscape management
as a strategy for heritage conservation.
Our research compares two models of
protection in areas where agro-pasto-
ralism has been essential for the adap-
tation to the mountain ecosystem in the
past. One model is the Archaeological
Park. We studied the Archaeological
Park of Ollantaytambo (PAO)[1] in the
Peruvian Andes, a part of the Great
Inca Trail. The second model is the
National Park, studied in the Orde-
sa and Monte Perdido National Park
(PNOMP)[2] in the Spanish Pyrenees,
part of the transnational property Pyr-
enees/Mont Perdu, inscribed in the
World Heritage List in 1997.
1 Parque Arqueolgico de Ollantaytambo.
2 Parque Nacional de Ordesa y Monte Perdido.

12 Mountain Research Initiative Newsletter no. 7, 2012

Figure 2:Abandoned terraces in the Pyrenees, progressively covered by forest (Bestu, Spain). Maya Ishizawa
In an Archaeological Park, policies fo-
cus on the conservation of historical
structures based on their authenticity.
In the National Park policies focus on
the conservation of natural values and
their ecological integrity. Both strate-
gies trigger conflicts with local com-
munities in terms of placing protection
boundaries, restricting access to re-
sources and to specific places signifi-
cant for inhabitants.
Landscape management refers to the
action to ensure the regular upkeep of
a landscape within a perspective of sus-
tainable development so as to guide and
harmonise changes which are brought
about by social, economic and environ-
mental processes (Council of Europe
2000). However, in neither case study
has a formal landscape management
plan been established.
Our focus was thus on the emergent
landscape management, defined as a
self-organized process that emerges
through the interactions between the
most influential actors in these cultural
landscapes, ultimately leading to syn-
Mountain Research Initiative Newsletter no. 7, 2012
ergies between these actors practices.
In both case studies we detected three
main actors interacting in the process
of the landscapes production and re-
generation. First are the local commu-
nities who shape the living landscape
through their day-to-day activities.
Second is the state as an external ac-
tor that regards landscape as a resource
repository and implements policies in
order to put these resources in value.
The shaping of the landscape is per-
formed by policies either directing lo-
cal communities activities (e.g. sub-
However, in both case
studies, no formal landscape
management plan has been
established.
sidies, land-titling, etc.) or regulating
the protected areas directly. Third are
the visitors who indirectly impact the
landscape through their appreciation. If
visitors prioritize certain aspects over
others, the state and the local commu-
nities both receive a feedback for their
practices and policies. national and international recognition of
The methodological design of the re-
search is based on the mapping of the
assets found in the landscape by the
different actors involved in landscape
management. Cartographic methods
were combined with ethnographic
methods in order to link physical man-
agement to peoples perception. Three
sets of maps, one for each group of
actors (state, local communities and
visitors) portray the results. An over-
lay of these maps shows the potentials
of common understanding between the
different actors and serves as a basis for
analyzing relationships between groups
of actors in relation to the landscape.
Preliminary findings
The two models affect local communi-
ties in different ways. The National Park
precludes human occupation entirely
while in the Archaeological Park the set-
tlements are located within the protected
area and the core town itself occupies the
archaeological site. Both models have
had positive economic effects through
the development of tourism arising from
13
 the sites as possessing unique landscapes
of outstanding value. However, it is evi-
dent that the three groups of actors differ
in their sense of value.
Local communities value their cul-
tural landscape as an inheritance from
their ancestors. For them, the protec-
tion of heritage is part of their way of
life. Landscape as a whole has sig-
nificance as a habitat and is perceived
as being progressively degraded by
abandonment (in the Pyrenees) or
mismanagement (in Peru).
States value certain landscape re-
sources - biodiversity, geological fea-
tures, architectural structures, tradi-
tion, folklore - with a utilitarian vision
based on their possible utilization for
economic and political interests.
Visitors, as external actors, value the
landscape aesthetics as opposite to the
urban environment, mainly because
nature and traditional culture are
perceived as intrinsically valuable.
From the perspective of the state, tra-
ditional activities such as non-industri-
alized agriculture, pastoralism, trans-
humance, and timber forestry are not
considered profitable. The modernisation
process activated by the state approach
to the territory threatens the continuity of
mountain cultures that have developed
through time the knowledge of how to
relate and adapt to these environments.
Mountain people are progressively aban-
doning their cultural practices, causing
the gradual loss of their habitats. This
loss is illustrated by the change of land-
scape from agro-pastoral to unplanned
urbanization (in Peru, see Figure 1) or
to spreading forest (in Spain, see Figure
2).
This process driven by external control
of resources and use of space, touristic
commodification, and migration turns
mountain people into a threatened spe-
cies. The disappearance of habitats
brings about the change of the landscape,
questioning the very concept of conser-
vation and leading to the transformation
of heritage in a direction that is diffi-
cult to predict. An emergent landscape
management approach may become a
useful tool to analyze the processes of
mountain habitat transformation and the
development of suitable conservation
strategies respecting the interests of ac-
tors in the landscape.

Authors

Maya Ishizawa
Ph.D. candidate, International Graduate School Heritage Studies, Brandenburg University of Technology, Cottbus, Germany
ishizawa.maya@gmail.com

Gerhard Wiegleb
Professor, Chair General Ecology, Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Process Engineering, Brandenburg University of
Technology, Cottbus, Germany
wiegleb@tu-cottbus.de

References

Council of Europe, 2000. European Landscape Convention, Strasbourg: Council of Europe.

Fowler, P.J., 2003. World Heritage Papers 6. World Heritage Cultural Landscapes 1992-2002, Paris: UNESCO World Heri-
tage Centre.

UNESCO, World Heritage Committee, 2011. Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Conventi-
on, Paris: UNESCO.

14 Mountain Research Initiative Newsletter no. 7, 2012

Science Peaks
Changes in sediment
transport rates through time
What are the linkages among sediment transport,
climate, and climate change?
Bodo Bookhagen
During this time of climate change in
mountainous environments, chang-
es in water resources command most
of the attention. While the hydrologic
cycle is an integral part of mountain
environments and an important ex-
pression of climate, sediment erosion
and transport may be equally impor-
tant factors for shaping landscape and
environments, but operate at distinc-
tively different frequencies and time-
scales.
For example, it has long been recognized
that understanding reservoir filling of hy-
dropower dams is crucial for both proper
management and increased longevity.
However, many sediment-transport rate
assessments, usually measured in volume
per time and done prior to dam construc-
tion are based on time series that do not
capture the relevant timescales and/or
events. That is, rare sediment-transport
events (e.g., multi-decadal or centennial
events) are often not included in the time
series, even though these events may
be the landscape shaping or dominant
events for sediment-mass transport. A
prime example are debris-flow basins in
the San Gabriel Mountains near Los An-
geles (California, USA) that fill rapidly
during and after heavy rainstorms (e.g.,
Lave and Burbank, 2004). In some years,
the sediment volume exceeds estimates,
as sediment transport and erosion from
hillslopes are exacerbated by preced-
ing wildfires. The landscapes erosional
response to the combination of these
events is not captured in the instrumental
Mountain Research Initiative Newsletter no. 7, 2012
record, but can have devastating conse-
quences for residents and infrastructure.
The climate-geology-
human-erosion linkage
A complex set of parameters control
sediment transport and erosion on the
Earths surface, making prediction quite
challenging. Sediment transport depends
mainly on topography, climate (hydrol-
ogy), biota, lithology, and structural evo-
lution of the mountain ranges processes
that act on very different timescales. In
general, the evolution of landscapes is
controlled by the relative magnitude of
constructive forces (tectonics) to destruc-
tive forces (surface erosion). Whereas
tectonic driving forces (i.e., earthquakes)
Erosion processes are an
integral part of the natural
system and eroded sediments
from mountains play a
crucial role for all life forms
in the nearby floodplains or
marine shelf regions.
are commonly considered steady over
millennial to million-year timescales
(103 to 106 years), erosive forces are
much more unstable and change at vary-
ing frequencies ranging from daily and
annual to millennial and longer. Erosion
and soil removal respond to a dynamic
and delicate balance (or competition)
between factors favoring degradation
and those that stabilize landscapes.
Taken together, the evolution of mod-
ern landscapes is driven mainly by both
natural (climate, soil characteristics, and
vegetation cover) and anthropogenic
forces (agriculture, wildfire manage-
ment, infrastructure). Erosion processes
are an integral part of the natural system
and eroded sediments from mountains
play a crucial role for all life forms in
the nearby floodplains or marine shelf
regions.
Rivers are the primary mode of sediment
routing in mountain landscapes. Sedi-
ment transport in rivers can vary signifi-
cantly on short (daily) timescales. For
example, a heavy rainstorm that triggers
debris flows or landslides can lead to a
significant increase in transported sedi-
ment for a few hours to a few days. With
the increasing use of river water for hy-
dropower, agriculture, and drinking-wa-
ter, the demand for sediment-free (clean)
water also increases. For example, sedi-
ment transported in the water leads to
increased abrasion of turbines, shorten-
ing hydropower facility lifetimes and
rapidly clogging of filters in the case of
drinking-water purification. Our chang-
ing climate leads to significant changes
in the sediment production and transport
through rivers and will provide a signifi-
cant challenge for infrastructural devel-
opment in the coming years.
15
 Changes in sediment transport rates through time

The unpredictive nature of A Elevation asl [km] B CRN Erosion rates [mm/yr]

100
sediment-transport

Kilometers
<1 2-3 4-5
processes

50
1-2 3-4 >5 < 100 100 - 500 500 - 1000 > 1000
The stochastic nature of sediment-trans- Mean annual rainfall [m/yr]
Drainage
port processes makes it difficult to pre- Altiplano-Puna

0
Network Plateau < 0.25 0.5 - 0.75 1-2
dict sediment transport and amounts. For

22S
[x103 km2] 0.25 - 0.5 0.75 - 1 >2
example, a recent study from high-eleva- 0.5 - 1
tion watersheds in the western Himalaya 1-5
indicates that on an annual base, 60-80% 5 - 10

of high suspended sediment concentra- > 10

tion events coincide with heavy rain- Humahuaca

storms and account for about 30% of the
suspended sediment flux (Wulf et al.,
2012). In other words, one-third of the

24S
annual sediment transport occurs during
a few days of heavy rainfall. Sediment
production from barren, vegetation-free
hillslopes is very sensitive to rainfall

Calchaques
.. the Parechu Flood in the
western Himalaya on June

26S
26, 2005 transported more
than 40% of the annual swath
profile
sediment budget within a few
days (...)

15S
Sierra de Quilmes

Sierra de Aconquija

events. In the case of the western Hima-

28S

Tucumn
laya, rainfall propagating farther into the Fiambal
high elevation, arid regions lead to large
sediment discharge events (Bookhagen

30S
66W 64W 70W

et al., 2005). The recurrence interval for

the larger events in this area is roughly
one decade and sediment transport mea-
surements need to include these events
(or even better, multiple of these events)
to provide proper assessments and un-
derstandings of the sediment regimes
and triggers.
Several studies also highlight the impor-
tance of rain-on-snow events, as a rapid
increase in river discharge due to rain
falling on and melting snow, significantly
increases river-water levels and sediment
transport capabilities (e.g., Wulf et al.,
2012). A similar flooding process results
from a landslide-dam break, a somewhat
rare, but significant geomorphic process
in mountain regions. For example, the
Parechu Flood in the western Himalaya
on June 26, 2005 transported more than
40% of the annual sediment budget with-
in a few days based on conservative esti-
Figure 1: Topography (A) and mean-annual rainfall (B) with locations of cosmogenic nuclide
samples in NW Argentina. Dashed lines in (A) show outline of swath profile depicted in Figure 2.
mates of discharge and sediment amount
(Wulf et al., 2012). Taken together, a nat-
ural consequence of the increase in infra-
structure and the higher demand of water
in mountain regions are the exposure to
rare, but significant hydro-geomorphic
events.
Tackling future challenges
by looking into the past
One of the future challenges is to predict
the amount of fluvially transported sedi-
ments. Our current predictions are ham-
pered by the complex linkages between
climate and sediment production and our
limited understanding of geomorphic
processes. However, we have some un-
derstanding of the temporal changes of
erosion-rate magnitudes. A steep climate
gradient exists in the northwestern Ar-
gentine Andes on the eastern flanks of
the Puna Plateau (Figure 1). The erosion
in this part of the world is strongly con-
trolled by the climatic gradient (Figure
2). During past wet periods, for example
during the Late Pleistocene, rainfall was
significantly higher in the interior parts
of the orogen, as evidenced by higher
lake levels and different vegetation cov-
ers (e.g., Abbott et al., 2003). By com-
bining several sedimentary archives and
using geochemical methods for erosion-
rate measurements, Bookhagen and
Strecker (2012) found that mean catch-
ment erosion rates in these mountainous
environment during several thousand-
year long wet periods (0.5 mm/yr) were
one order of magnitude greater than the

16 Mountain Research Initiative Newsletter no. 7, 2012

 6 1.5

mean CRN erosion rate (mm/yr)

Altiplano- Santa Mara Basin Santa Mara Basin

mean annual rainfall (m/yr)

Tucumn Basin
Puna (Calchaques Basin) (Calchaques Basin)
Plateau 0.500.3 mm/yr, n=15
0.100.04 mm/yr, n=4
Elevation (km)

4 0.050.02 mm/yr 0.130.004 mm/yr, n=1 1

n=4

0.020.01 mm/yr, n=5

2 0.5
0.020.004 mm/yr, n=1

0 0
0 50 100 150 200 250
W-E distance along swath (km)

Figure 2: Swath profile across the south-central Andes in NW Argentina (see Figure 1 for location). Black line indicates mean topography, blue line shows
mean annual rainfall, and red bars show cosmogenic-nuclide erosion rates (mm/yr) averaged over several centuries and millenia. Shading denotes 1-sigma
uncertainties. Note the high erosion rates at the wet mountain fronts and the low erosion rates in the semi-arid to arid mountain environments. These areas
respond with high erosion rates during wet periods, for example during the Late Pleistocene. Figure modified after Bookhagen and Strecker (2012).

present rate of 0.05 mm/yr. The higher
sediment transport led to sediment de-
position in places where the river gradi-
ents and the energy available to transport
sediments decreased. These millennial
scale erosion-rate magnitudes are mainly
controlled by climatic oscillations. In or-
der to understand sediment transport on
human-relevant timescales of decades to
centuries, one needs to include the cli-
mate predictions and the important rare
(or extreme) events.

Author

Bodo Bookhagen
Associate Professor, Geography Department, UC Santa Barbara, USA, bodo@eri.ucsb.edu

References
Abbott, M. B., B. B. Wolfe, A. P. Wolfe, G. O. Seltzer, R. Aravena, B. G. Mark, P. J. Polissar, D. T. Rodbell, H. D. Rowe,
and M. Vuille (2003), Holocene paleohydrology and glacial history of the central Andes using multiproxy lake sediment
studies, Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology, 194(1-3), 123-138.

Bookhagen, B. and Strecker, M.R. (2012): Spatiotemporal trends in erosion rates across a pronounced rainfall gradient:
examples from the southern Central Andes, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2011.

Bookhagen, B., Thiede, R.C., Strecker. M.R. (2005): Abnormal Monsoon years and their control on erosion and sediment
flux in the high, arid northwest Himalaya, Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 231, 131-146.

Lav, J. and Burbank, D.W. (2004): Denudation processes and rates in the Transverse Ranges, southern California: Ero-
sional response of a transitional landscape to external and anthropogenic forcing, Journal of Geophysical Research, 109,
F01006, doi:10.1029/2003JF000023

Mountain Research Initiative Newsletter no. 7, 2012 17

Science Peaks

Consuming space, nature

and culture
Patterns of mountain indirect urbanization

Ismael Vaccaro and Oriol Beltran

The twentieth century has deepened

and increased global interconnected-
ness. Furthermore, the networks that
link most places of the world are now
dominated by their most powerful
nodes: cities. Cities have large socio-
ecological footprints (Cronon 1992).
Their survival requires large amounts
of resources, and their populations
constitute large markets with massive
demands and disproportionate politi-
cal power in comparison to their rural
counterparts in terms of votes, infor-
mation and organization.

Those of us that are interested in moun-

tains must face this reality: directly or
indirectly our ranges are strongly in-
fluenced and shaped by the presence or
the demands of neighboring or remote
cities. Some mountainous areas of the
world contain large cities as in Mexico,
Bolivia (Greenfield 1994), or Ethiopia
(Hailemariam and Adugna 2011). In
these places one can observe the effects
of direct urbanization of the ranges. At
a different scale, other mountains of the
world are experiencing demographic
densification that results not in a me-
tropolis but rather in networks of grow-
ing small or medium cities as in India
Himalayas or East Africa (Callas 1991).
These areas are also experiencing direct
urbanization although the impact is not
spilling over from a very large locale, but
from dozens of smaller urbanizing units.
Finally, some ranges have experienced
an acute depopulation such as in Spain
(Ayuda and Pinilla 2002), Italy (Romano
1995), or France (Andr 1998).
Is urbanization exclusively connected
Pla de LErmita, Alta Ribagora Oriol Beltran
to demographic increases? We contend
that it is not. A mountainous area with-
out cities might find itself nevertheless
transformed to satisfy the needs and ex-
pectations of external consumers. These
urban needs might include the desire for
contemplation of wildlife and dramatic
landscapes, the willingness to consume
orderly and safely packaged rural life,
or the search for sport related emotions
via ski and adventure sports. In any case,
the mountains are not untouched but are
rather transformed by their managers to
serve the needs of an overwhelmingly
urban population.
the territory, follows a logic designed to
In the Catalan Pyrenees we have been
tracking down and analyzing processes
of territorial transformation (Vaccaro
and Beltran 2010). These processes have
changed and redefined the rural quality
of many of the Spanish and European
This redefinition (...) follows
a logic designed to cover
urban needs.
mountains. This redefinition, which in-
cludes economic shifts, cultural transfor-
mations, and actual development of in-
frastructures and new constructions over
cover urban needs. We call this the indi-
rect urbanization of the mountains.

18 Mountain Research Initiative Newsletter no. 7, 2012

The Pyrenees experienced demographic
and economic collapse between the end
of the nineteenth and the end of the twen-
tieth centuries (Molina 2002; Soriano
1994). Agriculture in the mountains with
their harsh climate and steeped slopes
could not compete with the high levels
of productivity of the farms and ranch-
ing of the low lands. Impoverished, and
having no alternatives in the mountains,

... by the mid-twentieth

century, 75% of agricultural
land was abandoned

their population migrated to the growing Figure 1: Population distribution in the Pallars Sobir district, 1857 and 1991. Source: Nomencltor
cities of the plains where paid jobs were 1857 and 1991.

relatively easy to find. Ranching and ag-

riculture declined in the late nineteenth
century, so that by the mid-twentieth
century, 75% of agricultural land was
abandoned and livestock numbers were
greatly reduced. The Aragon and Catalan
High Pyrenees lost 28.6% of its popu-
lation between 1950 and 1970, falling
from 47,108 to 33,618 inhabitants. This
depopulation was slightly less acute in
places where hydroelectric projects were
implemented. The upper slopes lost most
of their population and dozens of villages
were completely abandoned (Ayuda and
Pinilla 2002).

Once a burst of hydropower construction

ended (Boneta 2003) the area suffered a
severe disconnection from the regional
markets (Vaccaro 2010). In this depopu- Figure 2: Protected spaces around the borders (in
lated and economically deprived context, black) of the Pallars Sobir district (on the Spanish
side) (source: www.gencat.cat)
the territory needed a new economic
engine based on new commodities and
new markets. In the hyper-urbanized late
twentieth century the scarcest commodi- Popula- Surface Protected Protected

ties were nature, dramatic landscapes, tion (ha) (ha) (% )

healthy ways of life, and tradition. In

other words, the mountains had what the Alta Ribagora 4.284 42.686 20.929 49.03
cities needed. The economic focus of the
mountains shifted towards conservation Pallars Sobir 7.548 137.792 95.685 69.44
and the service industry, towards tour-
ism (Beltran and Vaccaro 2011). In this Val dAran 10.192 63.360 37.552 59.27
context the four Catalan High Pyrenees
districts were territorially reshaped by Total 22.024 243.838 154.166 63.22
the conservationist effort .
Table 1: Districts and protected areas in the Catalan High Pyrenees
Tourism here must be understood as a (2011) (source: idescat.net)

complex, multilayered phenomena with

Mountain Research Initiative Newsletter no. 7, 2012 19

 Consuming space, nature, and culture

all sorts of manifestations and conse-
quences. It included both mass tourism
such as resort-centered skiing and small
scale tourism or ecotourism. It has devel-
oped infrastructures, second residence
villages or neighborhoods, and has at-
tracted population back to the area so
that after 1990 some areas began a de-
mographic recovery (Vaccaro and Bel-
tran 2007). Tourism fostered all sorts of
economic ventures providing goods and
services to visitors interested in quality
and tradition: local museums, gastrono-
my (slow food, local varieties of fruits,
sheep and cows, cheese, cold meats),
artisans (iron, baskets, and textiles), and
history (castles, churches, and mills).
In the seven districts of the High Pyr-
enees, since the 1960s, 13 ski resorts
have been built (five in Aragon and
eight in Catalonia, three of which were
subsequently abandoned). Real estate
management and property values and
speculation in the Pyrenees has be-
come inextricably connected to the plan-
ning and development of sometimes
ephemeral ski resorts. The Catalan
High Pyrenees went from 19,949 sec-
ond residences in 1981 to 37,435 in
2001, and from 4,852 hotel beds on 1981
to 13,562 in 2010. In Aragon second
residences went from 3,511 in 1981 to
13,812 in 2001. Aragon in 1955 had 16
hotels with a total of 638 beds. Supply
increased dramatically from 1975 un-
til 2010, growing from 3,102 to 14,104
beds. The Aragon municipalities nearby
the ski resorts went from 2,469 second
residences in 1981, to 6,073 in 1991, and
10,946 in 2001. The Catalan case is even
more pronounced, going from 15,890 in
1981, to 25,980 in 1991, and 28,610 in
2001 (Lasanta et al. submitted).
These changes included increased eco-
nomic activity, construction, and jobs.
On the other hand, the economy of the
area became driven by external seasonal
behaviors with, as a result, high levels
of dependence. Some of these villages,
bursting with activity during the tourist
season, are empty towns off season.
Thus over the past century, the Spanish
Pyrenees lost their original, more self-
sufficient, rural character and indeed
much of their population, only to be rec-
reated as providers of rural goods and
experiences for urban populations near
to but nonetheless outside the mountains.
While appearing rural, they exist within
a urban context.

Authors

Ismael Vaccaro
Associate Professor, Dept. of Anthropology and McGill School of Environment, McGill University
ismael.vaccaro@mcgill.ca

Oriol Beltran
Associate profesor, Dept. of Social Anthropology, Universitat de Barcelona
obeltran@trivium.gh.ub.es

References

Andr, M. F. 1998. Depopulation, land-use change and landscape transformation in the French Massif Central, Ambio 27 (4): 351-
353.

Ayuda, M.I. and Pinilla, V. 2002. El proceso de desertizacin demogrfica de la montaa pirenaica en el largo plazo: Aragn, Ager:
Revista de Estudios de Despoblacin y Desarrollo Rural 2: 101-138.

Beltran, O. and Vaccaro, I. 2011. From scenic beauty to biodiversity: the patrimonialization of nature in the Pallars Sobir, (Catalan
Pyrenees). In Roig, X. and Frigol, J. Constructing Cultural and Natural Heritage. Parks, museums and rural heritage. Institut
Catal de Recerca en Patrimoni Cultural, Girona, 91-104.

Boneta, M. 2003. La Vall Fosca: els llacs de la llum. Desenvolupament socioeconmic a comenaments del segle XX. Garsineu,
Tremp.

Cronon, W. 1992. Natures metropolis: Chicago and the Great West. Norton, New York.

Darby, W. 2000. Landscape and identity: geographies of nation and class in England. Berg, Oxford.

Greenfield, G. (ed.). 1994. Latin American urbanization: historical profiles of major cities. Greenwood, New York.

20 Mountain Research Initiative Newsletter no. 7, 2012

Hailemariam, A. and Adugna, A. 2011. Migration and Urbanization in Ethiopia: addressing the spatial imbalance. In Teller, Ch., and
Hailemariam, A. (eds.) The Demographic Transition and Development in Africa. The unique case of Ethiopia. Springer, London,
145-165.

Lasanta, T., Beltran, O., and Vaccaro, I. Submitted. Socioeconomic and territorial impacts of the ski industry in the Spanish Py-
renees: mountain development and leisure induced urbanization. 23

Mountain Research Initiative Newsletter no. 7, November 2012

Molina, D. 2002. El proceso de desertizacin demogrfica de la montaa pirenaica en el largo plazo: Catalua, Ager. Revista de
Estudios sobre Despoblacin y Desarrollo Rural 2: 81-99.

Nello, O. 2001. Ciutat de ciutats. Empries, Barcelona.

Prados, M.J. (ed.). 2008. Naturbanization: new identities and processes for rural-natural areas. CRC Press, London.

Perlik, M. 2011. Alpine gentrification: the mountain village as a metropolitan neighborhood, Revue de Gographie Alpine 99 (1).

Pignatti, S. 1993. Impact of tourism on the mountain landscape of central Italy, Landscape and Urban Planning 24 (1-2): 49-53.

Prats, L. 1997. Antropologa y patrimonio. Ariel, Barcelona.

Romano, S. 1995. National parks policy and mountain depopulation: a case study in the Abruzzo Region of the Central Apennines,
Italy, Mountain Research and Development 15 (2): 121-132.

Soriano, J.M. 1994. El procs de despoblament a les comarques de la Cerdanya i lAlt Urgell, Documents dAnlisi Geogrfica 25:
141-163.

Vaccaro, I. 2010. Theorizing impending peripheries: postindustrial landscapes at the edge of hypermodernitys collapse, Journal of
International and Global Studies 1 (2): 22-44.

Vaccaro, I. and Beltran, O. 2007. Consuming space, nature and culture: patrimonial discussions in the hyper-modern era, Journal of
Tourism Geographies 9 (3): 254-274.

Vaccaro, I, and Beltran, O. 2009. The mountainous space as a commodity: the Pyrenees at the age of globalization, Revue de Gog-
raphie Alpine 97 (3).

Vaccaro, I. and Beltran, O. (eds.). 2010. Social and Ecological History of the Pyrenees: state, market and landscape. Left Coast
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Mountain Research Initiative Newsletter no. 7, 2012 21

Science Peaks

Critical Zone Observatory:

snowline processes in the
Southern Sierra Nevada
Peter Hartsough and Matthew Meadows

The Southern Sierra Critical Zone
Observatory (CZO) was initiated in
2007, one of 3 CZOs funded by NSF to
integrate investigations of subsurface
processes, landscape processes, and
land surfaceatmosphere interactions.
The program was expanded to 6 observa-
tories in 2009, and NSF has announced
plans to further expand to 8 CZOs in
2013. Three CZOs are in mountains in
the western part of the United States. A
variety of networked studies provide a
framework to address climate change in
mountain regions using space for time
substitutions as well as the limitations
that shape ecosystem function now and
into the future. The time scales consid-
ered in the CZOs range from instanta-
team measures surface and subsurface
processes along a gradient of elevation,
energy, water, and soil (Figure 1). We
have based the observatory design on a
transect across the current rain to snow
transition zone, with intensive instru-
mentation measuring fluxes of water
and energy in this dynamic zone (Bales
et al., 2011a). Ongoing work by Bales
et al. (2011b) documents the elevation
gradient-based pattern of soil moisture
response to snowmelt and rainfall at the
SSCZO and the local variability caused
by hillslope aspect, mixed-conifer cano-
py, and soil texture. Much of the physical
monitoring is possible due to a wireless
mesh network (WSN) designed specifi-
cally for use in complex mountain terrain
(Kerkez et al., 2012). Using the WSN
to monitor snow melt and soil moisture
allows for distributed measurements on
a spatial scale that would be almost im-
possible otherwise. Placements of WSN
sensors to measure snow were evaluated
using snow on/snow off LIDAR flights,
as well as traditional snow and soil mois-
ture surveys.
Using co-located, continuous snow-
depth and soil-moisture monitoring over
2 years, Bales et al. (2011b) reported on
the relationships of seasonal evapotrans-
piration to changes in snowpack and soil
moisture storage. They found that about

The time scales consid-

ered in the Sierra Critical
Zone Observatories are also
unique, and range from in-
stantaneous changes to geo-
logical times.

neous changes to geological times. The

research in the CZOs is largely hypoth-
esis-driven and integrates observations
with modeling. The network is expected
to serve the international scientific com-
munity through providing research infra-
structure, data sharing, and model devel-
opment (http://criticalzone.org/).
Figure 1: A representation of the monitoring efforts at the Southern Sierra Critical Zone Observatory
At the California Southern Sierra CZO showing the range of monitoring activities across the rain-snow transition zone (illustration by Jenny
(SSCZO), the multi-disciplinary research Park).

22 Mountain Research Initiative Newsletter no. 7, 2012

 Fgure 2: Schematic of four flux towers along an elevation gradient on the west slope of the Sierra Nevada. The straight white lines con-
nect the locations of the eddy covariance sites. The inset shows the elevation profiles along the segments of the eddy covariance transect.
The scale bar is km, and the blue polygon is the Upper Kings River basin. (modified from Goulden et al., 2012)
one-third of annual evapotranspiration
was estimated to come from water stor-
age below the 1-m soil depth, including
from weathered granite. Recharge of this
deep water storage occurred locally dur-
ing periods of high precipitation and/or
rapid snow melt and was available for
tree transpiration during summer and fall
months when shallow soil water storage
was limiting.
This research led to further investigation
of deeper subsurface processes, includ-
ing porosity development associated
with weathering of deep bedrock into
saproplite. Geophysical work by Hol-
brook et al. (in review) proposes a 40 m
deep saprolite of relatively high porosity
on top of low porosity bedrock. With ad-
ditional monitoring of hydrologic fluxes
in this deep vadose zone, we are docu-
menting the importance of this deeper
storage pool for mountain ecosystem
functions.
As part of the SSCZO infrastructure, a
network of four eddy covariance flux
towers was installed along an elevation
gradient, from a low-elevation oak-
grassland site at 405 m, through mixed-
Mountain Research Initiative Newsletter no. 7, 2012
conifer forest to an upperelevation red-
fir-transition site at 2700 m (Figure 2).
Goulden et al. (2012) report on plant wa-
ter use and available surplus along this
gradient. They use tower footprint scale
gross ecosystem CO2 exchange (GEE)
and evapotranspiration (ET) as a gen-
eral measure of ecosystem productivity
They found that about one-
third of annual evapotranspi-
ration was estimated to come
from water storage below
the 1-m soil depth, including
from weathered granite.
and compare tower derived ET to remote
sensing observations to estimate ET
for the upper Kings River basin. Three
distinct regions are identified along the
transect that show water limitation at
the lower elevation, energy and soil
limitations at the upper elevation, and a
relative sweet spot of maximum photo-
synthesis at the middle elevations. This
mid-elevation range is characterized by
ample soil (and saprolite) water storage
and relatively mild temperatures. Trees
at the middle elevation band (1200-
2020m) currently span the rain/snow
transition zone and are exposed to mod-
erate temperatures. Goulden et al. (2012)
also show that due to low precipitation,
annual ET was 35% lower at 405 m com-
pared to the middle elevation band, while
annual ET was 40% lower at 2700 m due
to colder temperatures. They speculate
that within the space for time framework
of the experiment, climate change and
associated movement of the zero de-
gree isotherm upslope may lead to sig-
nificantly decreases in runoff as longer
growing seasons and year-round trans-
piring species, move upslope. However,
if the ecosystem is largely controlled by
deep water storage, the pace of soil and
saprolite production (and therefore stor-
age) will influence the temporal scale of
species migration.
Manipulative experiments were used to
simulate climate change at the SSCZO.
Blankinship et al. (in review) manipu-
lated snowmelt timing, advancing it by
more than 2 weeks while preserving wa-
ter quantity, which resulted in drier soil
at depths less than 30 cm. After the wet
23
 winter of 2011, drying associated with
earlier snowmelt persisted throughout
the growing season and decreased soil
CO2 emission by 10-35%.
Soil was also moved down in elevation
to simulate future climatic warming. El-
evation transfer caused 1.4 C warming
during fall, winter, and spring, but little
change in summer temperature or total
annual precipitation.
Warming increased soil CO2 emission
during snow-free periods by 32% and
increased soil CH4 uptake by 48%. The
authors suggest that climatic warming in
snow-dominated ecosystems of the Sier-
ra will increase net greenhouse gas emis-
sion from the soil to the atmosphere in
the short-term. However, continued ad-
vancement of the snowmelt date without
a simultaneous increase in precipitation,
will likely constrain the extent of the
temperature-induced increase in green-
house gas fluxes. This work further il-
lustrates the multi-faceted feedbacks
between soil and snow and demonstrates
that both the amount and timing of snow-
melt need to be considered to constrain
soil carbon and greenhouse gas budgets.
In the coming years we aim to extend
our research to include feedbacks into
weathering, regolith formation, nutrient
cycling, and vegetation/ecosystem distri-
bution and function along the rain-snow
transition vertical transect. The Southern
Sierra CZO welcomes new partners and
innovation.

Authors

Peter Hartsough
Post-doctoral Fellow, University of California Davis, USA
phartsough@ucdavis.edu

Matthew Meadows
Hydrologist, Sierra Nevada Research Institute, University of California Merced, USA
mmeadows@ucmerced.edu

Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the SSCZO team for their contributions to the research; see http://czo.ucmerced.edu.
This research was supported by the National Science foundation grants EAR-0725097 and EAR-0619947

References

Bales, R. C., M. Conklin, B. Kerkz, S. Glaser, J. W. Hopmans, C. Hunsaker, M. Meadows, and P. C. Hartsough, 2011a, Sam-
pling Strategies in Forest Hydrology and Biogeochemistry, in D. Levia, D. Carlyle-Moses, and T. Tanake, eds., Forest Hydrol-
ogy and Biogeochemistry: Synthesis of Research and Future Directions, v. Ecological Studies 216, Springer, p. 762.

Bales, R. C., J. W. Hopmans, A. T. OGeen, M. Meadows, P. C. Hartsough, C. T. Hunsaker, P. Kirchner, and D. Beaudette,
2011b, Soil moisture response to snowmelt and rainfall in a Sierra Nevada mixed conifer forest: Vadose Zone J, v. 10, p. 786-
799.

Blankinship, J., M. Meadows, R. Lucas, and S. Hart, in review, The legacy of snowmelt timing on soil moisture in a high
elevation Mediterranean climate: Water Resour. Res.

Goulden, M. L., R. G. Anderson, R. C. Bales, A. E. Kelly, M. Meadows, and G. C. Winston, 2012, Evapotranspiration pat-
terns with elevation in the Sierra Nevada Mountains: Journal of Geophysical Research-Biogeosciences, v. 117, p. 13.

Holbrook, S., C. S. Riebe, J. Hayes, K. Reeder, D. Harry, A. Malazian, A. Dosseto, P. C. Hartsough, and J. W. Hopmans, in
review, Geophysical Constraints on Deep Weathering and Water Storage Potential in the Southern Sierra Critical Zone Ob-
servatory: EPSL.

Kerkez, B., S. D. Glaser, R. C. Bales, and M. W. Meadows, 2012, Design and performance of a wireless sensor network for
catchment-scale snow and soil moisture measurements: Water Resour. Res., v. 48, p. W09515.

24 Mountain Research Initiative Newsletter no. 7, 2012

Science Peaks

200 years of land use change

in the Carpathian Basin
Van Butsic

Land use change is a formidable forc-
ing of global environmental change.
For centuries humans have changed
their relationship with land in order to
meet their needs, transforming land-
scapes in the process. The Carpathian
Basin, i.e., the Carpathian Mountains
and the Pannonian Plains, of East-
ern Europe are a prime example of a
system that has been subject to long-
term ongoing human-driven land use
change.
The Carpathians are unique as they have
also been subject to several major socio-
economic transformations during the
20th and 21th centuries: World War I
and the demise of the Austro-Hungarian
Monarchy, World War II, the rise and fall
of socialism, and the eastward expansion
land use in the Carpathians. Using the
Carpathians as our study area we also
hope to address fundamental questions
concerning the effects of gradual versus
drastic change and regime shifts in land
use. While this research is ongoing, we
are excited to introduce readers to this
understudied mountain range, present
our research plan, as well as share a few
early lessons learned.
Study area
The Carpathian Mountains along with
the adjacent lowlands are an ideal place
forestry tended toward large scale spruce
plantations. After World War II the adop-
tion of socialism lead to collectivization
of much of the land base, resulting in
massive changes in ownership in many
countries. Agriculture intensified and
continued to expand, and forestry was
considered as a major resource. Even
during this period, however, substantial
areas of old growth forest survived, as
did small scale and self-sufficient agri-
culture on more marginal lands, espe-
cially in the mountains.

These socio-economic trans-

formations have triggered
drastic land use change (...).

of the European Union. These socio-

economic transformations have triggered
drastic land use change, including chang-
es in mountain farming and forestry.

A team of American, Hungarian, Polish,

Slovak, Swiss, Ukrainian, and German
scientists are working together to quan-
tify the long-term changes in land use
Figure 1: The Carpathian Mountains and adjacent lowlands
throughout the Carpathian Mountains
and its surrounding lowlands in order to
understand better the underlying drivers
of these changes. Our research combines to study long-term patterns and drivers The fall of socialism led to mixed re-
historical military maps, remote sensing, of land use change, as well as the impact sponses in land use, with fragmentation,
and econometric modeling to quantify of rapid institutional change. In the years land restitution, and land abandonment
past land use change, identify drivers of leading up to World War II, agricultural common. As these countries now transi-
these changes, and project the future of expansion increased deforestation and tion to the European Union (with the ex-

Mountain Research Initiative Newsletter no. 7, 2012 25


Figure 2: Landsat composite of the study area. A cloud free, temporal composite of Landsat data, capturing approximately the mid-summer 2000 pe-
riod. Visualized are the near Infrared, shortwave Infrared, and visual red bands as RGB. Broadleaved forests appear bright orange, coniferous forests
are indicated by darker brown to black colors. Pastures and bare soil appear cyan to turquoise.
ception of Ukraine) they face new pres-
sures on land use, including compliance
with EU environmental regulation and
participation in the Common Agricultur-
al Policy. Early indications are that this
transition has led to polarization in land
use: intensification in some places with
continued abandonment in others.
Land use in the Carpathians is not just
scientifically fascinating. It is also of key
conservation importance. The Carpath-
ian Mountains are one of the most biodi-
verse regions in Europe, and are a strong-
hold for wolf, brown bears, and lynx, as
well as over 125 critically endangered
plants and animals. Mountain farming in
the Carpathians is also a prime example
of a tightly coupled human-natural sys-
tem, where agricultural practices have
developed in conjunction with natural
systems. These systems may be under
threat due to new external pressures.
Conserving both the species that inhabit
the Carpathians as well as its indigenous
26
200 years of land use change in the Carpathian Basin
social systems are of international im-
portance.
Quantifying historic land use
change in the Carpathian
Basin
Our analysis of land use change in the
Carpathian Basin is based on a compre-
hensive dataset of historic maps from the
Austro-Hungarian topographic military
surveys. Starting in the 18th Century
Translating these paper
maps into usable data
requires a laborious process
of digitizing, georectifying
and mosaicing.
four such surveys were carried out, circa
~1775, ~1860,~ 1890, and ~1920. We fo-
cus our research on the second and fourth
surveys. Land cover and land use were
surveyed comprehensively, including in-
Mountain Research Initiative Newsletter no. 7, 2012
formation on forests, shrubland, farm-
land, pastures, settlements, water bodies
and roads. We also use military maps
from the time period around the Second
World War, which show the landscape
as it was just before collectivization. Fi-
nally for the 1970s an area-wide dataset
of Soviet topographic maps exists which
can be validated using aerial photos from
the same time period. Translating these
paper maps into usable data requires a
laborious process of digitizing, georec-
tifying and mosaicing. We record land
use based the regular point grid (points
spaced 2km) according to the INSPIRE
directive, and similar to the LUCAS
(Land Use/Cover Area Frame Survey)
survey. We record land use changes since
1860s at approximately 100.000 points
spanning 2 eco-regions and 7 countries.
Mapping recent land use
change in the Carpathian
Basin
To map recent (1985-2010) changes in
land use, we rely on Landsat MSS, TM,
and ETM+ images. We make use of the
full Landsat image archive and atmo-
(...) the project has already
generated the first, area-wide
forest disturbance map,.
spherically corrected and cloud-masked
over 1400 Landsat images to create area-
wide image composites for every five
years. These composites now serve as
a basis to map changes in forest cover,
conversions from agriculture to grass-
land, forest recovery on logged sites and
former farmland, and land use pattern
(e.g., field size) changes. Though this
work is ongoing, the project has already
generated the first, area-wide forest dis-
turbance map, which provides new ways
to assess the effect of institutional chang-
es on logging patterns and protected area
effectiveness (Griffiths et al, accepted).
Discovering the drivers of
past and present land use
change
The digitized point data from the historic
maps as well as the remotely sensed im-
agery provide a wealth of data for model-
ing the drivers of land use change. Both
the historic and recent land use change
data are well suited for panel analysis.
Figure 3: Reforestation in the Polish Carpathians, Gorce Mts. 1934-2011
Original photo by Jarosz Z., 1935, Badania geograficzno-lene w Gorcach, Prace Rolniczo-Lene 16, PAU.
Recent photo Dominik Kaim, Jagiellonian University, Krakow.
Mountain Research Initiative Newsletter no. 7, 2012
Currently, we are using the remotely Mountains ranges can be especially dif-
sensed data to investigate how changes ficult to study because they often form
in forest ownership have impacted forest borders between countries. Therefore,
changes. During the recent time period, even basic data gathering task can be dif-
1985-2010, several of the countries have ficult as one relies on agencies in mul-
undergone large shifts in ownership re- tiple countries, who may speak different
gimes. For example, Romania has un- languages, and possess data that dif-
dergone three waves of land restitution, fers in content and reliability. We have
resulting in around 40% of forested land found that having project partners from
being privately owned, compared to multiple countries is key to meeting this
nearly none in 1990. Interestingly, own- challenge. Great international partner-
ership in other countries has stayed rela- ships, however, do not occur overnight.
tively stable (i.e., Poland and Ukraine). Members of our team have collaborated
Economic theory suggest that privatizing for nearly a decade, and that long fa-
forest may impact harvest rates. Using miliarity makes it possible to tackle suc-
the pan-Carpathian data we can exploit cessfully a project of such temporal and
heterogeneity over time both within and spatial scope.
between countries in forest ownership
regimes to test if this is true.
Lessons learned thus far
Our project thus far has been primarily in
the data collection phase, yet has already
yielded interesting results. For instance,
forest change, a good proxy for forest
harvest, decreased in every country di-
rectly after the fall of socialism. Since
that time, however, in each Carpath-
ian nation, forest change has increased
in each time period, indicating that the
forestry sector may be recovering. In-
vestigating what increased forest harvest
rates may mean for biodiversity and lo-
cal communities is a question we are still
investigating.
We have also learned much about do-
ing research over a full mountain range.
27
 Author

Van Butsic
Post-doctoral researcher, Geography Department, Humboldt University Berlin, Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Development
in Central and Eastern Europe
vanbutsic@gmail.com

Project partners

University of Wisconsin Madison, USA: Dr. Volker Radeloff, Dr. Jennifer Alex-Garcia, Catalina Munteanu, Sarah Walker

National Taras Scevchenko University, Ukraine: Dr. Oleksandra Shandra

Jagiellonian University, Poland: Prof Jacek Kozak, Dr Katarzyna Ostapowicz, Dr Krzysztof Ostafin, Dominik Kaim

Slovak Academy of Sciences: Dr. ubo Halada, Dr. Juraj Lieskovsk, Dr. Matej Mojses, Dr. Martin Boltiiar, Katarna Kysuck

Humboldt University Berlin: Dr. Patrick Hostert, Dr. Tobias Kuemmerle, Dr. Van Butsic, Patrick Griffths

University of West Hungary: Dr. va Konkoly-Gyur, Dr. Gza Kirly

Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Central and Eastern Europe (IAMO): Dr. Daniel Mller

Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research: Dr. Urs Gimmi

Reference

Griffiths, P., Van der Linden, S., Kuemmerle, T., & Hostert, P. (accepted). A pixel-based Landsat compositing algorithm for large
area land cover mapping. Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing.

28 Mountain Research Initiative Newsletter no. 7, 2012

Science Peaks
Urban growth in Himalaya
Environmental Impacts and Developmental Opportunities
Prakash C. Tiwari and Bhagwati Joshi
Figure 1: Geographical location and political districts of Uttarakhand
Introduction
The Himalaya is one of the most tec-
tonically unstable, ecologically frag-
ile, economically underdeveloped, and
densely populated mountain ecosys-
tems on the planet. The continuous up-
lift has makes these mountain ranges
highly vulnerable to large-scale tec-
tonic movements (Valdiya and Bartarya
Himalaya represents one of
the most densely populated
mountain ecosystems on the
planet.
1991). The nature of the terrain imposes
severe limitations on the scale of re-
source productivity as well as on the ef-
Mountain Research Initiative Newsletter no. 7, 2012
ficiency of infrastructural facilities. As
a result, subsistence agriculture consti-
tutes the main source of rural food and
livelihood even though the availability
of arable land is severely limited and
agricultural productivity is poor. Dur-
ing recent years, a variety of changes
have emerged in traditional resource
utilization pattern mainly in response
to population growth, climate change,
economic globalization and urbaniza-
tion, leading to land use intensifica-
tions and depletion of natural resourc-
es. Rapid urban growth has disrupted
hydrological regimes of Himalayan
headwaters and reduced ground water
recharge, depleted forests and biodiver-
sity, increased risks of natural hazards
and disasters in urban areas as well as
in their peri-urban zones, and increased
the vulnerability of mountain in-
habitants to food and livelihood in-
security (Poudel 2008). However,
urbanization has also created op-
portunities for the socio-economic
development of the region. This pa-
per analyzes trends of urban growth
and examines its impact on natural
ecosystem and socio-economic sus-
tainability with case illustration of
Uttarakhand Himalaya.
The Himalayan state of
Uttarakhand
The Himalayan State of Uttara-
khand, covering 53066 km2 from
the narrow Foothill belt in the south
to the Lesser, Great and Trans Hi-
malayan ranges in the north, was
created in the year 2000. It includes
the headwaters of some of the larg-
est trans-boundary basins of South
Asia. The state consists of 13 dis-
tricts of which 10 extend across Hi-
malayan mountains and 3 are located
in their foothill zone (Figure 1). The
total population of Uttarakhand is 6
million of which 26% lives in 86 fast
growing and emerging urban centres
(Census of India 2001). Tourism is
one of the fast growing economic
sectors and therefore is emerging
as important driving force of urban
growth in the State.
Methodology
Fast growing towns, one each from
the 10 mountainous districts of Ut-
tarakhand were selected for a com-
prehensive assessment of impacts of
urbanization on natural and social
systems. In addition to analyzing the
opportunity created by urban devel-
opment, we examined the depletion
of land, forests, biodiversity and
29

Figure 2: Agriculturally productive peri-urban areas are now being encroached by speedy urbanization in Kumaon Himalaya, India. Prakash Tiwari
water resources and their impact on tra-
ditional agricultural and food systems.
Urban land use changes were monitored
through digital interpretation of multi-
date satellite data of years 1981 and
2011. Other relevant data and informa-
tion have been collected through com-
prehensive socio-economic surveys and
from Census of India 2001.
Urbanization in Uttarakhand
During recent years, Uttarakhand Hi-
malaya has experienced rapid urban
growth due to population increase, en-
hanced transport connectivity, emer-
gence of rural growth centres, devel-
opment of tourism, improved access to
markets, and the lack of effective land
use policy. Besides the emergence and
growth of a large number of new ur-
ban centers, existing towns are rapidly
increasing both in size and area. More
recently, comparatively less accessible
areas have also begun the process of
urbanization due to improved road
connectivity and growth of tourism.
Consequently, there has been tremen-
dous increase in density, intensity and
30
complexity of urban settlements. This
is clearly indicated by fast growing ur-
ban population in the state, particularly
after 1971 (Tiwari & Joshi 2011). In Ut-
tarakhand, urban population increased
The growth of urban popu-
lation in Uttarakhand during
1971 1981 and 1981 1991
was much higher than the
national decadal growth of
urban population in India.
from 16.36% of the total population
in 1971 to 20.7 % in 1981, 22.97 % in
1991, and 25.59 in 2001. The growth of
urban population in Uttarakhand dur-
ing 1971 1981 and 1981 1991 was
much higher than the national decadal
growth of urban population in India as
a whole(Census of India 2001).
Environmental impacts
Urban growth in Uttarakhand Himalaya
is disrupting the hydrological system,
Mountain Research Initiative Newsletter no. 7, 2012
Urban Growth in Himalaya
destroying wildlife habitats, depleting
biodiversity, increasing vulnerability
of urban systems and their surrounding
rural areas to a variety of natural risks,
and undermining rural food and liveli-
hood security through encroachment of
prime agricultural land (Tiwari & Joshi
2011). Urban growth caused the loss of
5.85% of natural forests during 1981
2011. The changing land use pattern and
decline in forest area have decreased
ground water recharge and increased
run-off (Ives 1989; Tiwari and Joshi
2012a). These hydrological disruptions
are resulting into (i) long-term decreas-
ing trend of stream discharge (Rawat
2009), (ii) drying of springs (Valdiya
and Bartarya 1991), and (iii) dwindling
capacity of urban lakes (Rawat 2009;
Tiwari and Joshi 2012).
Forty-five percent of natural springs
have dried up completely, 21% have
become seasonal, and stream discharge
has declined by 11% during 1981 2011.
Consequently, 65% villages are facing
acute shortage of freshwater with irri-
gation potential declining by 15% (Ti-

Figure 3: Unplanned and unregulated urbanization on steep slopes in Nainital, Kumaon Himalaya,
India. Prakash Tiwari
wari and Joshi 2012). Anthropogenic
impact on urban lakes has increased
via siltation and pollution. Bathymet-
ric investigations revealed that the ca-
pacities of Bhimtal and Nainital lakes
have decreased respectively by 5494
m3 and 14150 m3 during the last 100
110 years due to rapid siltation (Rawat
2009). Run-off generated by urban
systems (65% of total rainfall) is much
higher than that of forests (4.5%) and
agricultural land (15%) Consequently,
peak flood rate from urban areas is
(...) peak flood rate of
urban areas is 35 times
higher compared to flood
rate of forests in the region.
35 times higher than that from forests
in the region (Rawat 2009). These hy-
drological disruptions have increased
the incidences of landslides and flash
floods respectively by 15% and 17% in
the urban areas and their surrounding ru-
ral regions during the last 3 decades. Be-
Mountain Research Initiative Newsletter no. 7, 2012
sides, 47% of total forest-area situated in
the towns and their peri-urban zones has
been characterized as highly disturbed
and fragmented causing rapid loss of bio-
diversity and genetic resources.
In Uttarakhand Himalaya, rural areas
surrounding fast developing urban cen-
tres have lost 9% of their prime agri-
cultural land due expansion of urban
land use during last 30 years. The loss
of fertile agricultural land and decline
in irrigation potential has caused 35%
decline in agricultural productivity in
surrounding areas of 10 urban zones.
Consequently, rural settlements situat-
ed in fringe of urban complexes are cur-
rently facing 80% food deficit increas-
ing vulnerability of rural communities
to food insecurity (Tiwari and Joshi
2012b). Depletion of forests and de-
cline in agricultural productivity have
decreased off-farm employment oppor-
tunities in traditional forestry and ag-
ricultural sectors up-to 65% decreasing
community food purchasing power by
nearly 10% in peri-urban zones (Tiwari
& Joshi 2011). This will have long-term
impacts on local food security affect-
ing particularly the poor and socially
marginalized communities constituting
nearly 75% of total population.
Opportunities
Undoubtedly, urbanization has contrib-
uted significantly to the socio-econom-
ic development of Uttarakhand through
the improvement of infrastructure and
transport connectivity, growth of tour-
ism, improved access to markets, and
generation of employment opportuni-
ties in various emerging sectors, par-
ticularly tourism. During the period of
global financial crisis (2008 2009)
Uttarakhand registered respectively
11.73 and 41.81 growth in domestic and
foreign arrivals and urbanization con-
tributed significantly towards attaining
this progress (ICIMOD 2012). Based
on the discussion held with local em-
ployment authorities, in a tourist city
like Nainital tourism industry provided
temporary employment for 25% of local
youths each year during 2006 2011.
Conclusion
As in other parts of the world, urban
growth cannot be stopped or reduced in
Himalaya, but it can be steered in a more
sustainable manner through an integrated
urban-rural land use planning. Effective
land use policies need to be evolved and
implemented for the protection and con-
servation of forests, biodiversity, water
resources and agricultural land. It would
also be imperative to develop pragmatic
framework for sustainable development
of agriculture in peri-uban zone as it is
not only an important economic activity,
but also constitutes fundamental source
of rural food and livelihood, an integral
part of culture, history and traditions, and
an invaluable treasure of traditional eco-
logical knowledge required for adapting
to climate change.
31
 Authors

Prakash C. Tiwari
Department of Geography, Kumaun University Nainital, India
pctiwari@yahoo.com

Bhagwati Joshi
Department of Geography, Government Post Graduate College, Rudrapur, Uttarakhand, India
bhawanatiwari@yahoo.com

References

Census of India (2001), Office of Registrar General Census, Government of India, New Delhi.

ICIMOD (2011) Collaborative Project on Kailash Sacred Landscape Conservation Initiative Developing a Tran-boundary
Framework for Conservation and Sustainable Development, Draft Report, ICIMOD, Kathmandu.

Ives, J. D. 1989. Deforestation in the Himalaya: The Cause of Increased Flooding in Bangladesh and Northern India. Land Use
Policy, 6: pp.187-193.

Poudel, K. R. (2008) Urban Growth and Land Use Change in Himalayan Region: A Case Study of Pokhara Sub-Metropolitan
City, Nepal, GIS Ostrava (1) pp. 27-30.

Rawat, J. S. 2009. Saving Himalayan Rivers: developing spring sanctuaries in headwater regions. In: Shah B. L. (ed) Natural
resource conservation in Uttarakhand. Ankit Prakshan, Haldwani, pp 4169.

Tiwari, P. C. and Joshi, B. (2012a) Environmental changes and sustainable development of water resources in the Himalayan
headwaters of India. International Journal of Water Resource Management, 26 (4): 26 (4), pp. 883907, 2012. DOI 10.1007/
s11269-011-9825-y.

Tiwari, P. C. and Joshi, B. (2012b) Natural and socio-economic factors affecting food security
in the Himalayas, Food Security, 4 (2), pp. 195-207, 2012, DOI 10.1007/s12571-012-0178-z.

Tiwari, P. C. and Joshi, B. (2011), Urban Growth and Food Security in Himalaya, International Working Paper Series, Urbani-
zation & Global Environmental Change (UGEC), View Point, International Human Dimension Programme (IHDP), 1(5):20-23.

Valdiya, K. S. and Bartarya, S. K. (1991) Hydrological Studies of Springs in the Catchment of Gaula River, Kumaon Lesser
Himalaya, India. Mountain Research and Development, 11: 17-25.

32 Mountain Research Initiative Newsletter no. 7, 2012

News from MRIs Regional Networks
AfroMont
Global Change Research Network of African Mountains:
Legacy, Role and Visions
Saliou Niassy and Willem Ferguson
Editorial
These regional networks are where
real people do real research. We
will persist in our attempt to keep
these networks functioning, to make
manifest those potential communities
of researchers Greg Greenwood the
Executive Director of MRI.
Mountain research has received very
little attention and publicity in African
countries. African mountains and high-
lands are however the most important
assets of the continent contributing
significantly to the socioeconomic de-
velopment in terms of water, land and
other essential resources. Unfortunate-
ly, there has been no significant impact
of research outputs on governance and
policy making over the last decades.
The rapid utilisation of natural resourc-
es and the lack of relevant policies of
conservation for sustainability will cer-
tainly lead to frequent disasters such as
drought, famine and starvation, which
in many situations have been wrongly
attributed to the never-ending saga of
global change. The degradation of eco-
systems and the exploitation of natural
resources will decimate the unique bio-
diversity of this continent if decisions
to reverse this trend are not taken.
Networking and coordination are prom-
ising initiatives that consolidate moun-
tain research all over the world. How-
Mountain Research Initiative Newsletter no. 7, 2012
ever, in Africa such initiatives should
be backed by a strong enthusiasm from
African governments. As far as moun-
tains are concerned, supporting poli-
cies are necessary to overcome these
prophesied calamities often credited to
global change.
It is within this framework that MRI
through the Food Agriculture Orga-
nization (FAO) initiated an African
global change research network for
mountains - AfroMont - to promote and
facilitate communication among moun-
tain researchers and stakeholders, and
to inform policy. During the last year,
this initiative has mobilized signifi-
cant support for the generation of new
knowledge on long term sustainability
in African mountains.
Saliou Niassy
Network Coordinator
MRI Coordinator for AfroMont
Centre for Environmental Studies
University of Pretoria
niassy@zoology.up.ac.za
Skype: saliou.niassy
Landline +27124204527
Fax +27124203210
http://mri.scnatweb.ch/mri-africa
Mountain and highland
initiatives: AfroMonts
heritage and lessons
To build a research network on African
mountains, it is essential to capital-
ize on the legacy that has been left by
previous mountain initiatives, learning
both from their strengths and failures.
Among the circumstances that motivat-
To build a research network
on African mountains it is
essential to capitalize the
legacy that has been left by
previous mountain
initiatives.
ed mountain initiatives in Africa, one
could cite the rapid population growth,
fragile ecosystems, economic pres-
sures, and transboundary conflicts.
The consequences of such issues have
compromised population livelihood in
terms of water shortages, land degrada-
tion, change in rainfall seasons, inva-
sive pests and diseases and increased
poverty in many African countries.
The African Mountains
Association (AMA)
This ambitious initiative was created
by African researchers with a non-gov-
ernmental Pan-African status. Formed
in Ambo, Ethiopia, in 1986, its objec-
tives were to create a venue for inter-
action between African researchers
and to influence policy. The Associa-
tion contributed to the discussions on
the Mountain Agenda which led to the
inclusion of a chapter on sustainable
mountain development (Chapter 13) in
Agenda 21. Despite the enthusiasm and
determination by organizing meetings
across the continent (Morocco, Kenya,
and Lesotho) and publishing news-
33

Lebialem Waterfall Forest Area, Cameroon Saliou Niassy
letters and proceedings, AMA went
through a period of silence due to fi-
nancial and logistical difficulties. The
decline of AMA could be attributed
lack of commitment of members.
African Highlands Initiative
(AHI)
The African Highlands Initiative,
launched in 1995, was a conglomerate
of Eastern African and international
research organizations that worked
with local communities, governments
and others NGOs in Ethiopia, Kenya,
Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda. This
regional program hosted by the World
Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) in Nai-
robi was an initiative of the Consulta-
tive Group for International Agricul-
tural Research (CGIAR) and a network
of the Association for Strengthening
Agricultural Research in Eastern and
Central Africa (ASARECA). Its objec-
tives were to improve livelihoods of
highlands of eastern and central Africa,
which were shown to be highly vulner-
able to climate change and population
growth. AHIs objectives were to de-
34
velop an integrated natural resource
management (INRM) program in
collaboration with beneficiaries (high-
land communities) and partners such
as national and international research
organizations and networks, organiza-
tions, local government, policy makers,
community-based organizations, and
male and female farmers. The African
Highland Initiative no longer appears
very active: its website has not been up-
dated since 2006.
Maloti-Drakensberg Trans-
frontier Programme (MDTP)
The Kingdom of Lesotho and the
Republic of South Africa signed a
memorandum in 2001 to establish the
Maloti-Drakensberg Transfrontier
Conservation and Development Area.
The area is known to be an important
centre of endemism and is currently
considered as a World Heritage Site.
The project was funded by World Bank
to ensure the conservation of the biodi-
versity and the cultural heritage left by
the Khoi-San. Today the programme is
still running with bilateral commitment
Mountain Research Initiative Newsletter no. 7, 2012
News from AfroMont
to maintain in a sustainable manner to
benefit generations in future. However
there is little emphasis which consists
in put on research programmes.
Cameroon Highland Initiative
This mountain initiative in Camer-
oon is unknown to many mountain
researchers in Africa. Mountain areas
in Cameroon are rich in diversity of
flora and fauna. There is high resul-
tant ecological diversity combined with
high species richness, high endemism,
lAfrique en miniature, a well-known
expression referring to this richness.
Due to non-sustainable utilization of
resources, mountains in Cameroon are
subjected to threats that endanger many
plant and animal species. There are re-
ports of extinction, habitat fragmenta-
tion and this has been aggravated by
the conversion of large forest areas into
agricultural lands using very non sus-
tainable approaches (slash, burns etc...).
Due to mounting population pres-
sure and livelihood challenges, uni-
versities and NGOs took the lead to
investigate mountain issues. Several
non-governmental attempts such as
the Cameroon Mountains Conservation
Foundation (CAMCOF) and the Environ-
ment and Rural Development Foundation
(ERuDeF) have also been initiated to pro-
mote the conservation and sustainable de-
velopment of those precious areas.
In its Mountain initiative, EruDeF fo-
cussed on the Lebialem division in the
South West Province of Cameroon and
the Mont Bamboutos in the North East,
characterized by the highest number
of landslides and destruction of arable
and productive landscapes and property
lost. Mt. Bamboutos is a source for wa-
ter to many major rivers in Cameroon.
The Mount Cameroon initiative, though
not well supported by the Cameroonian
government, aims at continuing the
policies of conservation of mountain
resources initiated by Germans and
French during the colonial era through
education, sensitizing and sustainable
development projects.
Fouta Djallon Initiative
A number of countries in West Africa,
including Senegal, Mali, Niger and the
Gambia, are largely depend on wa-
ter resources from the Fouta Djallon.
Due to the economic situation in those
countries the Guinea Mountain initia-
tive over the last three decades relied
Preparatory meeting for the Mountain Conference in Buea-Dschang, Cameroon, 21-25 January 2013 Saliou Niassy.
Mountain Research Initiative Newsletter no. 7, 2012
exclusively on international interven-
tion aiming at the conservation and
development of natural resources in
the Fouta Djallon Mountains, and the
promotion of sustainable community
development.
Regional efforts such as lObservatoire
Rgional des Ressources Naturelles
et de lEnvironnement du Massif du
Fouta Djallon (ORMFD) have been
created for the management of natural
resources. The FAO-funded regional
programme for integrated development
of Fouta Djallon was also launched in
2008. All these initiative focus on pro-
moting conservation activities in the
management and protection of water
resources, and national parks respec-
tively between Senegal, Mali, Maurita-
nia and Guinea and between Senegal,
The Gambia and Guinea.
Current situation of
Mountain research in Africa
The common situation in Africa is a
neglect of mountains by African gov-
ernments, resulting in non-sustainable
practices in these fragile environments.
Research programmes are being con-
ducted in Africa mostly by academics
though international collaborations and
non-governmental organizations with
often little connection one another.
With the global awareness of climate
change, there is significant input from
external funding aimed at promoting
adaptation and sustainable develop-
ment in mountain areas. But mountain
research is still neglected.
Apart from the AHI, which focussed
essential on community livelihoods,
little is known about the governments
measures on mountain areas. However,
AHI focused exclusively on communi-
The common situation in
Africa is a neglect of African
mountains by African
governments, resulting in
non-sustainable practices in
these fragile environments.
ties in East Africa. There has been little
contribution from African governments
for the conservation of mountains else-
where.
In central and west Africa, little is
known about mountain research initia-
tives and the governance of sustainable
development in mountain areas. There
are reports of external funding but
there is no visibility in term of scien-
tific outputs and their conversion into
policy or practice.
35

Lesotho Willem Ferguson
The role of AfroMont
Since the creation of the Global Change
Research Network in African Moun-
tains in Kampala in 2007 and the im-
plementation of the FAO-funded co-
ordination in Africa in August 2011,
AfroMont has garnered a
large amount of continent-
wide awareness and support
through a series of visits in
all sub-Saharan mountain
regions.
AfroMont has garnered a large amount
of continent-wide awareness and sup-
port through a series of visits in all sub-
Saharan mountain regions. AfroMont
aims at promoting an African network
of mountain research based on previous
experiences of African initiatives. The
previous lack of coordination has been
the major issue in African mountain
research. Irregularities of mountain
forum and meetings, situations where
no news, abstracts or proceedings are
produced, have significantly hampered
mountain research in Africa.
AfroMonts aim is also to facilitate
regional and continental branches
throughout the montane parts of Africa.
In November 2011, there was a fruitful
contribution of AfroMont in the Inter-
national Conference in East African
Mountains (ICEAM). In August 2012,
in collaboration with the MDTP, Af-
roMont organized for a regional moun-
tain Workshop in Lesotho involving
36
South Africa, Lesotho, Zimbabwe and
Malawi, and which provided a platform
for both researchers to perform regional
research prioritization and for politi-
cians to make contact with scientists
involved in research that may enlighten
sustainable resources in mountain ar-
eas within the context of global change.
A database of researchers is currently
under reconstruction. AfroMont pro-
vides regular communications to the
MRI newsletter and close contact with
scientists through telephone, email and
Skype. A website was created to pro-
mote interaction and knowledge shar-
ing among African researchers.
AfroMonts vision and road
map
AfroMont has two main areas of focus:
1. Collaborative continental and re-
gional research programmes.
In an evaluation of the effect of global
change on mountain ecosystems, the
most important inhibiting factor is a
lack of long term regional and conti-
nent-wide data collected in a compa-
rable way. AfroMont attempts to en-
courage regional and continent-wide
research collaboration by the initiation
of research that addresses this lack of
information. The Lesotho meeting for-
mulated a southern African research
agenda that needs to be integrated with
a continent-wide set of research pri-
orities. A continent wide database for
long-term monitoring of global change
is a key programme and a monitor-
ing network comprising an African
environmental observatory should be
Mountain Research Initiative Newsletter no. 7, 2012
News from AfroMont
established to assess the degradation
of natural resources in respect to cli-
mate change and population growth in
mountain regions. Based on previous
contacts with Cameroonians mountain
researchers, AfroMont is looking for-
ward to organize a Mountain Confer-
ence in Cameroon to mobilize all sub-
Saharan researchers.
2. Science-policy interaction.
AfroMont informs and brings aware-
ness on mountain issues with respect to
global change in Africa, especially since
both mountain landscapes and down-
stream non-mountain landscapes benefit
from mountain resources. Mountain re-
The Lesotho meeting
formulated a southern
African research agenda
that needs to be integrated
with a continent-wide set of
research priorities.
searchers and policy makers, two groups
of people who have historically tended
to avoid each other, must work together
with least disturbance to the ecosystem
for the benefit of communities living
in mountains. This situation has been
exacerbated by the lack of funding sup-
port from local governments. African
researchers always need to outsource
funding from overseas to run their proj-
ects. A lot of funding has been dedicated
to achieve mountain sound initiatives
such as African Highland Initiative, the
Cameroon initiative and FAO initiative
in Fouta Djallon. The consequences of
such practices explain the fact that re-
search outputs are published abroad and
are therefore not seen by local policy
makers to influence local policies.

AfroMont will certainly be a key ac-

tor on the implementation of the Future
Earth programme in Africa by using its
connections with African scientists and
researchers currently focussing of Glob-
al Change in African mountains.

Scope of AfroMont as of November 2013

AfroMont up to date

News: subscribe to the AfroMont RSS feed or the Newsflash at http://mri.scnatweb.ch/mri-africa

2011-12 Report: http://mri.scnatweb.ch/background-documents/view-category

Mountain Conference in Buea-Chang, 21-25 January 2013:

http://mri.scnatweb.ch/mri-africa/mountain-conference-in-buea-dschang-cameroon-21-25-january-2013

References

African Highlands Initiative (AHI) 2008 External review and impact assessment, Program Evaluation Report

African Highlands Initiative 2005 Report for the AHI Priority Setting Exercise AHI Strategy for ASARECA 2005
2010, Compiled by Ann Stroud and Derek Peden

Bruno Messerli, Hans Hurni, Bekure Wolde-Semayat, Shibru Tedla, Jack D. Ives and Mesfin Wolde-Mariam 1988 Af-
rican Mountains and Highlands: Introduction and Resolutions. Mountain Research and Development, African Moun-
tains and Highlands, Vol. 8, No. 2/3, pp. 93-100

ERuDeF Project document, Community-based Management and Conservation of Cross River gorilla at the Lebialem
-Mone Forest Landscape, Western Cameroon

Greg Greenwood, 2011. Real Projects in Real Places. Newsletter of the Mountain Research Initiative MRI NEWS. No.
6, October

Ojany F. F. 1992. Introduction African Mountains and Highlands: Crisis in Africa-Needed Research and Action, with
Special Reference to Kenya, Mountain Research and Development, Vol. 12, No. 4 pp. 309-314

Mountain Research Initiative Newsletter no. 7, 2012 37

News from MRIs Regional Networks
MRI in the Americas
Transecto Cordillera Americana (TCA)
Christian Devenish
Editorial
Mountains and global
change research in light of
Rio+20
CONDESAN and MRI participated
actively in the build-up to Rio+20, the
UNs flagship conference on sustain-
able development, with activities in-
cluding an assessment of sustainable
development in the Andes over the
last 20 years, and the organization of
a Mountain Pavilion during the con-
ference. This brief reflexion asks what
can we learn from this event, and how
global change researchers can partic-
ipate in sustainable development in
mountains.
Although global changes in mountains
are increasingly well documented,
sometimes it seems to be only enough
to cause concern, but not enough to
force concrete actions and agreements,
as Rio+20 made only too clear. Howev-
er, even though the outcome document
of the conference contained less com-
mitment than could have been desired,
mountains at least feature prominently,
and build on their inclusion in Agenda
21. This provides us with further op-
portunities for global change research
to feed into activities aimed at achiev-
38
ing sustainable development.
Two aspects of CONDESAN and MRIs
participation at Rio+20 provided the
core content and the stage to showcase
the capacity of mountains both to witness
the global changes that are making our
The Pavilion provided an
opportunity for a diverse
community of researchers,
civil society, policy advisers
and States to present the
current status of mountains
(....)
existence unsustainable and to provide
solutions to mitigate their impacts. The
Mountain Pavilion was hosted by the Pe-
ruvian Government, and coordinated by
a committee of organizations with a spe-
cial, or exclusive, interest in mountains,
including the Mountain Partnership,
CONDESAN, ICIMOD and UNEP, with
funding provided by the Swiss Agen-
cy for Development and Cooperation,
amongst others. During the conference,
the Pavilion provided an opportunity
for a diverse community of researchers,
civil society, policy advisers and States
to present the current status of mountains
Mountain Research Initiative Newsletter no. 7, 2012
and their contribution to sustainable de-
velopment.
Much of the Pavilions content was
based on a series of regional reports,
charting the progress of sustainable de-
velopment in different mountain regions
of the world, and providing the rationale
for organizing the Pavilions activities
around five key thematic areas:
Adaptation to Climate Change and
Disaster reduction
Water and Mountains
Investment in Mountain: Extractive
industries, tourism, Infrastructure,
clean energy and land-use changes
Food Security, Food Sovereignty and
gender
Ecosystem Services and Biodiversity
What then, for the role of researchers
in global changes in mountains? What
should our part be in supporting pro-
cesses such as Rio+20? Some of the key
conclusions from the regional reports
provide clear areas for future research
as the following examples show. The
importance of mountain ecosystems
(e.g. paramos and bofedales) for water
regulation was highlighted, but also
made clear the need for more informa-
tion on the functioning of these ecosys-
La Paz with Illimani
tems, especially under climate change,
and in light of impacts on water pro-
vision. Native mountain products and
agrobiodiversity were also featured as
Native mountain products
and agrobiodiversity were
also featured as important in
both the Andes and globally.
important in both the Andes and glob-
ally, requiring inputs as to crop suitabil-
ity under climate change and the effects
of land use change on biodiversity, to
guarantee their sustainable production.
Extractive industries are a staple of An-
dean economies, but increasingly cause
controversy and conflict among com-
munities, especially with regard to water
use. Other land use changes, combined
with the effects of climate change, will
have increasingly serious effects on the
ecosystem services that are vital for both
mountain and lowland communities.
Thus, the way that people interact with
their environment, at different scales, re-
mains a priority topic for research, but
also provides a unifying currency to the
above examples and many other key ar-
eas, in that there is a need for increased
and combined research in both ecological
and social systems.
Mountain Research Initiative Newsletter no. 7, 2012
The Mountain Pavilion showed that a
diversity of approaches and disciplines
can come together in search of common
objectives. Sometimes, it is difficult to
see how results from the incredibly fo-
cused and specific nature of much aca-
demic research can filter into processes
And this is where the impor-
tance of (mountain-specific)
networks, such as MRI,
becomes evident, working
together to achieve a more
systemic approach (...).
that will engender real policy changes,
especially when mountains as such, do
not share the same limelight as some of
our wealthier cousins such as forests
or small islands in the international are-
na. And this is where the importance of
(mountain-specific) networks, such as
MRI, becomes evident, working to-
gether to achieve a more systemic ap-
proach in our search for solutions to the
issues associated with global changes.
A recent opinion piece by Robert Hof-
stede[1] , in attempting to reason why
mountains, as a thematic component of
1 See http://www.infoandina.org/node/139122
CONDESAN
international agreements had not en-
joyed better prominence, attributed this
to their incredible diversity, as a defo-
cusing influence, effectively spreading
strengths too thin. This is an astute rea-
soning, but to take it further, we then
must use this diversity, in the physical,
biological and human environments,
to our advantage, in promoting moun-
tains not just as the witnesses of global
change in all its forms, but also, as the
centres of origin of a diversity of solu-
tions.
Christian Devenish
TCA co-coordinator
MRI - CONDESAN, Lima, Peru
Calle Mayorazgo 217
San Borja, Lima, Per
Tel. +51 1 6189400 Ext. 514
christian.devenish@condesan.org
mri.scnatweb.ch/mri-tca
39

News from the
Americas
New coordination for TCA
The beginning of 2012 saw a change
in coordination of MRI in the Ameri-
cas region, whereby CONDESAN, a
regional organization working towards
sustainable development in the Andes,
took on a more active role in coordinat-
ing activities for the American Cordil-
lera Transect, the regional network of
the Mountain Research Initiative. As of
April 2012, Bert De Bivre and Chris-
tian Devenish took on the task of over-
seeing MRI activities in the region.
Bert de Bivre E. Quiroz
Bert De Bivre, resident in Ecuador
over the last 20 years, has a strong
background in hydrology and water
resources management, with MSc and
PhD studies. After almost 15 years at
the Universidad de Cuenca, Bert joined
CONDESAN in 2006 to coordinate the
Proyecto Pramo Andino in Colombia,
Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela. Over a
six year period, this GEF funded project
worked towards biodiversity conserva-
Left and middle: Monitoring of change in mountains: how can research feed policy for sustainable development? Mountain Pavilion, Rio+20, June 2012.
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. CONDESAN. Right: Key Contact Workshop, August 2012. La Paz, Bolivia.
40
News from the Transecto Cordillera Americana TCA
tion and developing our understand-
ing of the hydrological importance of
highland Andean ecosystems known as
paramos[2] .
Christian Devenish E. Quiroz
Christian Devenish, resident in North-
ern South America since 1998, is a biol-
ogist, with a background in biodiversity
conservation, especially Neotropical
birds. Having worked on the Colom-
bian and Americas Important Bird
Area programmes, Christian joined
CONDESAN to work on an assessment
of sustainable development in the An-
des over the last 20 years, presented at
the Mountain Pavilion in Rio+20 where
he was responsible for the thematic and
programmatic content.
Recent activities in the
Andes
Over recent months, MRI has been
picking up speed in bringing global
change researchers together in the An-
des. A key part of recent activities have
concentrated on reactivating the MRI
2 A 250 page synthesis of the project available here:
http://www.condesan.org/portal/publicaciones/puent-
es-entre-alturas
Mountain Research Initiative Newsletter no. 7, 2012
TCA Newsflash[3], a bimonthly bul-
letin detailing news, projects, events
and publications relevant to global
change research in the region, and the
regional website[4] , including the TCA
blog. Guest bloggers welcome! As well
as ground work for what we hope will
be fruitful future collaborations, other
principal activities and relevant events
have included the following.
Workshops
Two key contact workshops were held
over the last year. Pablo Lagos, the for-
mer MRI coordinator organized an event
in Santiago, Chile, on 16 November
2011, bringing together researchers at-
tending the IGU Regional Geographic
Conference.
A further workshop to exchange infor-
mation on current and future research
projects and interests was organized in
collaboration with the Bolivian Moun-
tain Institute in La Paz, on 22 August
2012[5] , to coincide with a Seminar on
Climate Change and Sustainable De-
velopment in Mountain Regions in Bo-
livia, held the day before. In total, 24
people attended the event, with 16 brief
presentations given, as well as break-
ing into smaller groups for discussion.
Researchers in the fields of natural
and social sciences participated, work-
ing on topics such as climate change,
3 See recent bulletins here: http://mri.scnatweb.ch/
download-document?gid=1831; http://mri.scnatweb.ch/
download-document?gid=1808; http://mri.scnatweb.
ch/download-document?gid=1421
4 http://mri.scnatweb.ch/mri-tca
5 Workshop report available here: http://mri.scnat-
web.ch/easyblog/entry/investigadores-de-cambios-
globales-en-montanas-se-juntan-en-la-paz-bolivia-
para-dos-jornadas-de-intercambio
CONDESAN
 At the Mountain Pavilion, MRI began a campaign for more high altitude observation stations at global level, framed within the following research que-
stion: Is Global Warming Proceeding Faster at Higher Elevations and If So, Why? The campaign was launched with this poster displayed at the Water
and Mountains thematic stand. CONDESAN

Mountain Research Initiative Newsletter no. 7, 2012 41


hydrology, glaciology, ecology and
distribution of Andean species, eco-
system mapping and migration. Ensu-
ing discussions also included practical
applications of research, such as plan-
ning and management of ecosystems
and implementation of climate change
adaptation actions.
Bert de Bivre attended the UNESCO
Inception workshop on The Impact of
The network will develop
strategies and policy
advice based on sound
scientific knowledge for the
Andean region.
Glacier Retreat in the Andes: Interna-
tional Multidisciplinary Network for
Adaptation Strategies, organized in
partnership with CONDESAN. The
aim of the UNESCOs International
Hydrological Programme and Man and
the Biosphere project is to establish a
multidisciplinary network to enhance
resilience to changes, particularly cli-
mate change, through improved under-
standing of vulnerabilities, opportuni-
Monitoring equipment at high altitudes in the Andes.
42
News from the Transecto Cordillera Americana
ties and potentials for adaptation.
The network will develop strategies and
policy advice based on sound scientif-
ic knowledge for the Andean region.
Three working groups were established
at the workshop, on 1) Climate impact
assessment: snow, glacier, and water
resources; 2) Vulnerability assessment
in the Andean Region; and 3) Policy as-
sessment in the Andean Region, with
recommendations including the es-
tablishment of a centre of excellence
for glacier research in Peru, as well as
defining the importance of glaciers in
water regulation, among many others.
This initiative is very much in line with
MRI objectives and MRI in the Ameri-
cas will be following progress closely
and looking for ways to support the net-
work.
Rio+20
As mentioned above, MRI-TCA also ac-
tively participated at the recent Rio+20
Conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil,
12-22 June 2012, with an important role
in the organization and programmatic
content of the Mountain Pavilion[6] .
6 See complete programme and materials here: http://
CONDESAN/Iniciativa MHEA
Mountain Research Initiative Newsletter no. 7, 2012
The Pavilion, hosted by the Peruvian
Government, and implemented by a
committee including the Mountain
Partnership, CONDESAN and MRI,
provided ample opportunity for partici-
pation on the part of organizations and
countries from all mountain regions of
the world.
Is global warming proceed-
ing faster at higher eleva-
tions, and, if so, why?
At the Mountain Pavilion, MRI began a
campaign for more high altitude obser-
vation stations at global level, framed
within the following research question:
Is Global Warming Proceeding Faster at
Higher Elevations and If So, Why? The
campaign was launched with a poster[7]
(see previous page) displayed on the
Water and Mountains thematic stand.
The basic research question will be a
crucial component of monitoring initia-
tives, as well as the prediction of future
water availability in the Andes. In addi-
tion to attempting to answer this ques-
tion, the call also responds to a need for
pavilion.minam.gob.pe/
7 http://pavilion.minam.gob.pe/sites/default/files/
USB/High%20Elevation%20Observation%20-%20
MRI_0.pdf
better monitoring (and its coordination)
of mountain climate at very high alti-
tudes, with applications in regional cli-
mate models, among others. MRI TCA
The basic research
question will be a crucial
component of monitoring
initiatives, as well as the
prediction of future water
availability in the Andes.
has participated in the discussion of this
issue, and has begun making contacts to
build up regional baseline information
in the Andes. A first step, is the inven-
tory of current monitoring stations, and
a gap analysis using both physical loca-
tion and current model weaknesses to
inform where the network of stations
can best be strengthened.
Round table discussion
MRI in the Americas and CONDESAN
also convened a round table discus-
sion[8] at the Mountain Pavilion, on 16
8 http://mri.scnatweb.ch/easyblog/entry/contribu-
tions-to-policy-from-scientific-research-a-view-from-
Water for the city of El Alto and La Paz
Mountain Research Initiative Newsletter no. 7, 2012
June 2012, titled Monitoring of change
in mountains: how can research feed
policy for sustainable development?
Speakers presented perspectives from
four continents: Himalayas (ICIMOD),
Carpathians (UNEP-Carpathian Con-
vention), USA (Boulder University and
the Andes (CONDESAN), sharing expe-
riences and challenges on how to bring
science and policy closer for sustainable
development in mountains.
Based on the presentations and discus-
sion, recommendations to promote bet-
ter, and greater, articulation between
scientific research and the process of
policy making highlighted the impor-
tance of factoring in the involvement of
policy makers at the beginning of proj-
ects, clarifying which policy level are
being aimed at with respect to the pri-
orities and objectives, and the need for
novel formats of data exchange. Empha-
sis was also placed on the importance of
collaboration between scientists within a
region to achieve compatibility between
environmental monitoring systems, and
in the development of new regional in-
formation systems.
the-mountains
Recent research published in
the region
Recent research on global changes in
the Andes is listed in the bimonthly
MRI Americas (TCA) Newsflash, and
is maintained on the MRI webpage[9] .
Some highlights showing the breadth of
research in the Andes on the topic of wa-
ter resources and global change are sum-
marized here:
The first tree-ring based precipitation
reconstruction for the Central Andes is
given by Morales et al (2012)[10] , us-
ing Polylepis tarapacana. The record
characterizes the occurrence of extreme
events and consistent oscillations over
a 700 year period showing ENSO-like
patterns and a persistent negative trend
in rainfall since 1930s. The paper warns
that the potential coupling of natural and
anthropogenic-induced droughts may
affect socio-economic activities in the
region, requiring adaptation strategies
on the part of those managing water re-
sources. Knowledge of high altitude pre-
cipitation was also improved by a study
in the semi-arid Andes of Chile (Bourgin
9 http://mri.scnatweb.ch/mri-tca
10 http://www.dendrocronologia.cl/pubs/2012_Pre-
cipitation%20changes%20in%20the%20South%20
American%20Altiplano.pdf
CONDESAN
43
 News from the Transecto Cordillera Americana TCA

et al 2012)[11] , implementing an inter-
polation method developed specifically
for mountain areas, and producing a
more realistic hydrological balance of
the high-altitude watershed.
A different coupling of factors affecting
water resources was evaluated by Buy-
taert & De Bivre (2012)[12] , with simi-
lar implications for future water man-
agement, in an attempt to differentiate
between the effects of population growth
and climate change on water availability
in four cities in the high Andes. Despite
uncertainties, they conclude that the ex-
pected demographic changes are likely to
outpace the impact of climate change on
water availability and should therefore
be the priority for local policy making.
11 http://www.shf-lhb.org/index.php?option=com_ar
ticle&access=standard&Itemid=129&url=/articles/lhb/
abs/2012/02/lhb2012010/lhb2012010.html
12 http://192.102.233.13/journals/pip/
wr/2011WR011755-pip.pdf
The topic of water supplies in Andean
cities was also included in a recent book
(Soruco 2012) published in Bolivia,
(...) concludes that
glaciers contribute 15% of
water in four river basins
supplying La Paz
annually (...)
documenting most of Alvaro Sorucos
doctoral thesis. A chapter on estimating
the current contribution of glaciers to,
and the impact of their retreat on, water
supplies in the city of La Paz concludes
that glaciers contribute 15% of water in
four river basins supplying La Paz annu-
ally (12% in the wet season, 27% in the
dry season).
Vulnerability to water stress for farmers
in the highlands of Bolivia was also one
of the multiple stressors identified by
McDowell & Hess (2012)[13] in a study
demonstrating the interactions between
stressors and adaptation - examining
how stressors deplete resources available
for adaptation under increasing climate
change.
Without a doubt, changes in water re-
gimes and the hydrological balance of
river basins under global changes is a
major, as well as unifying, topic within
global change research in mountains, it is
also a key topic for feeding into regional,
national and local policy and strategies
to improve livelihoods in the Andean
region, where further linkage between
social and ecological systems research
could greatly benefit this thematic area.
13 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/
S0959378011001890

References

Bourgin, P.Y., Andreassian, V., Gascoin, S., Valery, A. 2012. Que sait-on des prcipitations en altitude dans les Andes semi-
arides du Chili? [What do we know about high-altitude precipitation in the semi-arid Andes of Chile?] Houille Blanche 2:
12-17

Buytaert, W., De Bivre, B. D. 2012. Water for cities: The impact of climate change and demographic growth in the tropical
Andes. Water Resources Research 48: W08503.

McDowell, J. Z., Hess, J. J. 2012. Accessing adaptation: Multiple stressors on livelihoods in the Bolivian highlands under a
changing climate. Global Environmental Change 22 (2): 342-352

Morales, M. S., Christie, D. A., Villalba, R., Argollo, J., Pacajes, J., Silva, J. S., Alvarez, C. A., Llancabure, J. C., Soliz Gam-
boa, C. C. 2012. Precipitation changes in the South American Altiplano since 1300 AD reconstructed by tree-rings. Climate
of the Past 8: 653666. http://www.dendrocronologia.cl/pubs/2012_Precipitation%20changes%20in%20the%20South%20
American%20Altiplano.pdf

Soruco Sologuren, A. 2012. Medio Siglo de fluctuaciones glaciares en la Cordillera Real y sus efectos hidrolgicos en la ciu-
dad de La Paz. IRD. La Paz: Bolivia.

44 Mountain Research Initiative Newsletter no. 7, 2012

International Mountain Day
2012
An opportunity to promote global change
research in the Andes
Since 2002, the United Nations General
Assembly has designated 11 December
as International Mountain Day (IMD).
The occasion has been celebrated each
year from 2003 onwards, highlighting a
different theme relevant to sustainable
mountain development. This year marks
the 10th anniversary of the International
Year of Mountains in 2002 and, as such,
International Mountain Day 2012 will
not be devoted to a specific theme but to
sustainable mountain development as a
whole.
In the Andean region, the decentralized
hub of the Mountain Partnership Sec-
retariat CONDESAN- is promoting a
regional celebration, integrating national
and local activities. Activities are aimed
at raising awareness amongst govern-
ments, scientists, the private sector and
Huayna Potosi, Bolivia
Mountain Research Initiative Newsletter no. 7, 2012
civil society in the region on the effects
of human actions on mountain ecosys-
tems and livelihoods. As highlighted at
the Mountain Pavilion during Rio+20, it
is clear that the Andes will continue to
face challenges in issues such as climate
change, extractive industries, natural di-
sasters, water resources, land-use chang-
es and food security in the near future.
The role of research in global changes is
crucial to develop strategies to mitigate
impacts from these drivers of change.
International Mountain Day is at once an
opportunity to showcase and promote re-
search on global changes in mountains,
and especially, its relevance to regional,
national or local processes and initiatives
within sustainable mountain develop-
ment. As such, activities this year will
include conferences and panel discus-
sions as well as cultural and educational
activities, with the support of govern-
ments, universities and NGOs.
Further information:
http://www.fao.org/mnts/home/en/
http://www.mountainpartnership.org/
www.infoandina.org
Contact
Dora Arvalo V.
Mountain Partnership Secretariat Officer
Decentralised Node for Latin America
CONDESAN. Lima, Peru
dora.arevalo@condesan.org
CONDESAN
45
 News from the Transecto Cordillera Americana TCA

Project CIMA
CIMA strengthens links between the generation of
information and the making of policy

Macarena Bustamante and Francisco Cuesta

The tropical Andes are the longest and

widest cool region in the tropics, as they
extend over 1.5 million km2, from 11 N
to 23 S, occupying an elevation range
from around 600-800 m up to some 6,000
m above sea level. Besides the charac-
teristic Andean features of steep slopes,
deep gorges, and wide valleys, a vast
mountain plain, the Altiplano, extends at
elevations above 3,500 m across much
of southern Peru and western Bolivia. A
large number of snow-capped peaks are
found throughout the tropical Andes. The
treeline occurs between 3,8004,500 m
near the equator and above 4,500 m from
15 S to the southern limit of the region
Josse et al. 2011). Further, the tropical
Andes top the list of worldwide hotspots
for endemism and the number of species/
area ratio (Myers et al. 2000).

In addition the Andes have been inhab-
ited for millennia by people who have
adapted to climatic and eco-geographical
characteristics of these mountains, and
Most information avail-
able in the Andean coun-
tries is based on simula-
tions and modeling, rather
than observed data.
whom in turn, have transformed the sur-
rounding landscape continually. None-
theless, global environmental changes
further exacerbate environmental degra-
dation and vulnerability of Andean eco-
systems and their inhabitants (Cuesta et
al. 2012). Unfortunately, the Andean re-
gion is characterized by a lack of knowl-
edge of these changes which is needed
to support policy makers in addressing
Researchers setting-up climate change experiments (Open Top Chambers) in the Tropical Grasslands
(paramos) of Pichincha, Ecuador. Proyecto CIMA/CONDESAN
their impacts. Most information avail-
able in the Andean countries is based on
simulations and modeling, rather than
observed data. For instance, the density
of hydrometeorological monitoring sta-
tions above 3.000 meters above sea level
in the region is insufficient to allow an
understanding of basic ecological pro-
cesses in Andean ecosystems, and less
so, to predict future trends linked to cli-
mate change.
With this background, CONDESAN
is currently implementing the Project
Knowledge generation and capac-
ity building as an adaptive response to
environmental changes in the Andes
Project CIMA, funded by the Swiss
Agency for Development and Coop-
eration (SDC). Its objective is to lay
the social, scientific and technological
foundations for establishing monitoring
systems that can assess the impacts of
social and environmental changes in the
region. The project supports the imple-
mentation of observation and monitoring
systems in more than 20 sites along the
Andes, ranging from Merida, Venezuela
in the north, to Cumbres Chalchaquies,
Argentina in the south. Among them,
two have been chosen as integrated sites
Pichincha in Ecuador, and Tiquipaya in
Bolivia where an integrative approach
is being employed, linking dynamics of
land use and climate change to ecosys-
tem processes expected to ensure the so-
cietal benefits of maintaining biodiver-
sity, carbon stocks and water sources in
the Andes.
In order to have comparable and suit-
able results, the project is designing

46 Mountain Research Initiative Newsletter no. 7, 2012

simple and replicable methods and pro-
tocols in each thematic area, which are
discussed and agreed upon among sci-
entists working in the region, including
The Global Observation Research Initia-
tive In Alpine Environments (GLORIA)
programme, and the Regional Initiative
of Hydrological Monitoring in Andean
Ecosystems (MHEA).
Recognizing that timely and robust in-
formation is critical for natural resource
management in the region, the project
seeks to integrate the monitoring system
with decision-making processes at mul-
tiple levels (e.g. local, regional) as a way
to strengthen capacities and foster adap-
tive management. Even though decision
makers require continuously relevant in-
formation to support the design of public
policies, the generation of scientific in-
formation in the Andean region, in addi-
tion to being scarce and not replicated in
time, has often been unarticulated from
the needs and priorities of decision mak-
ers. The lack of dialogue and of adequate
Map 1. Distribution of Project CIMA sites along the Andes (CONDE-
SAN, 2012)
Mountain Research Initiative Newsletter no. 7, 2012
collaborative mechanisms between sci-
entists and policy makers are shown
CIMA is aiming to artic-
ulate the on-going efforts
of researchers with policy-
makers information needs
(...).
through scarce and weak research agen-
das that could guide information genera-
tion processes in the region.
Therefore, Project CIMA is aiming to ar-
ticulate the on-going efforts of research-
ers with policymakers information needs
to support decision making at regional,
national and local levels. While local
stakeholders, such as communities and
local governments, are being engaged
within the design and implementation of
monitoring systems, at the national and
regional level the project seeks to share
Authors
Macarena Bustamante R.
macarena.bustamante@condesan.org
Francisco Cuesta C.
francisco.cuesta@condensan.org
Iniciativa de Estudios Ambientales Andinos
CONDESAN
Quito, Ecuador
http://www.condesan.org/cima
its monitoring protocols with environ-
mental authorities to complement gov-
ernments on-going efforts in the Andes.
In that vein, Project CIMA is promo-
ting the exchange among researchers in
the region and technical representatives
and policymakers, as a basis for mutual
learning and building bridges between
policy and science. With the support of
the General Secretariat of the Andean
Community (SGCAN), a working meet-
ing between government researchers,
delegates from the Ministries of Envi-
ronment of the Andean countries, and
scientists was held to discuss hydro-
logical monitoring protocols in Andean
ecosystems (Lima, 1-2 August 2012).
During October, a second meeting was
organized in Lima (22-25 October 2012)
to discuss a protocol aimed at monitor-
ing Montane forest dynamics, biodiver-
sity and carbon fluxes.
Further, a peer-reviewed manuscript is
being produced with the goal of com-
paring forest trend dynamics among the
available permanent plots in the Andean
region. Lastly, as an outcome of this
meeting a regional research network of
montane forest was created that inte-
grates scientists and technicians of the
Andean countries and the National park
services. . Through these opportunities,
the project expects to develop collab-
orative mechanisms with governmental
agencies and jointly identify minimum
methodological agreements as a pre-
requisite to complement, and to ensure
greater sustainability, of monitoring sys-
tems in Andean ecosystems.
47
 News from the Transecto Cordillera Americana TCA

Climate change in mountain

ecosystems
An Andean perspective at IPROMO 2012

Jason Garcia Portilla

The 2012 course of the International

Programme on Research and Training Compartment High mountain Rainforest
on Sustainable Management of Moun- (paramo - puna) (lowland)
tain Areas (IPROMO) summarized the
state of the art on the relationship be- Vegetation 20 250
tween mountains and climate change Soil 1700 50
adaptation and mitigation. Likewise, the Total 1720 300
most important international agreements Source: Hofstede et al 1999
reached in order to stabilize greenhouse Table 1. Comparative values of stored Carbon (tonnes/ha) at highland and

lowland sites. Source: Hofstede et al 1999
gas (GHG) concentrations, such as the
United Nations Framework Conven-
tion on Climate Change, and the Kyoto
Protocol, were analysed in the light of
mountain concerns.

The Andes are the most populated moun-

tain region in the world and are incred-
ibly important for the economies of the
seven Andean countries, providing ag-
ricultural area, mineral resources, and
water (Condesan 2012). However, sev-
eral pressures related to global change
threaten the stability and increase the
vulnerability of this region (Garcia &
Rodriguez 2012).

(...) it was evident that

some of the important tech-
nical issues have not yet
gained appropriate recog-
nition in international re-
ports.
These pressures were discussed at IPRO-
MO 2012, with reference to how the
challenges imposed by climate change
can be exacerbated by current trends of
expanding populations (growth and mi-
Figure 1. Altitude-Temperature Vs. Soil Carbon in a transect of the Andes in Colom-
bia. Source: Pichot, et al. 1978 cited in Garcia (2003)
gration), expanding agricultural areas times more carbon than vegetation giv-
and intensification, and increasing min- en the low rates of mineralization and
eral extraction. nutrient cycling at high altitudes, lead-
ing to a net absorption of atmospheric
In terms of the carbon cycle in Andean CO2, which is stored in soils, contrary
ecosystems, it was evident that some of to low-land ecosystems (Garcia 2003)
the important technical issues have not (Table 1 and Figure 1).
yet gained appropriate recognition in in-
ternational reports. For instance, moun- Similarly, the high vulnerability of
tain soils in the Andes can retain three Andean ecosystems to climate change

48 Mountain Research Initiative Newsletter no. 7, 2012


Bioclimatic Displaced area
current actual zone (% total)
Andean 47.60
forest
Paramo 75.75

Super- 85.20
paramo
Glacier 94.48

Figure 2. Vulnerability of Andean ecosystems to climate change under 2 x CO2 scenario. B - An-
dean forest; B/P - High Andean Forest and subparamo; P - Mid paramo; SP - Superparamo; N -
Permanent snow/glacier. Source: Van der Hammen et al 2002

was highlighted. For example, high
mountain ecosystems, such as paramos
or puna, could lose 75% of their origi-
nal surface area under a scenario with a
doubled CO2 concentration in the atmo-
sphere (Figure 2).
Finally, in terms of further research
needs on climate change and mountains
in the Andes, the importance of detailed
vulnerability analyses at regional and
sub-regional levels was highlighted, in-
tegrating the framework and variables
included in a recent report on managing
the risks of extreme events and disasters
(IPCC 2012). These analyses should
consider the influence of explicit and im-
plicit sectorial policies with potential to
influence the vulnerability and stability
of the region. Furthermore, it is impor-
tant to circulate widely information and
research results so that they are included
and recognized at a global level in inter-
national reports.

Author

Jason Garcia Portilla, Adviser

Territorial Approach to Climate Change (TACC) - Colombia, United Nations Development Programme
jason.garcia@pnud.org.co

References

CONDESAN 2012. Why the Andes matter. Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). Available at: http://
www.condesan.org/portal/publicaciones/why-andes-matter

Garcia, J. & Rodriguez, M. (2012). Las polticas de prosperidad econmica y la adaptacin al cambio climtico Choque de
locomotoras?. En: Crdenas M. & Rodrguez M (Eds). Las locomotoras de desarrollo y la adaptacin al cambio climtico.
Bogot, FESCOL.

Garcia, J. 2003. Carbon fixation in soils and climate change in peatlands and high mountain paramo ecosystems. Ori-
ginal in Spanish: Anlisis del potencial de emisin de dixido de carbono del pramo de Chingaza y lineamientos para su
conservacin en el contexto del Mecanismo de Desarrollo Limpio.

Hofstede, R. 1999. El pramo como espacio para la fijacin de carbono atmosfrico. En: Medina, G. y Mena (Eds). El pra-
mo como espacio para la mitigacin del carbono atmosfrico. Serie Paramo 1 GTP/Abya Yala. Quito. Ecuador.

Van der Hammen, T., J. D. Pabn-Caicedo, H. Gutirrez & J. C. Alarcn. 2002. El cambio
global y los ecosistemas de Alta Montaa de Colombia. En: C. Castao-Uribe (ed.) Pramos y ecosistemas Alto Andinos de
Colombia en Condicin hotspot y global climatic
tensor: 163-209. IDEAM, Bogot.

IPCC 2012. Managing the risks of extreme events and disasters to advance climate change adaptation (SREX).

Mountain Research Initiative Newsletter no. 7, 2012 49

News from MRIs Regional Networks
MRI Europe Progress Report
Astrid Bjrnsen Gurung
Editorial
Train passengers traveling from Bern
to Innsbruck will note the smooth shift
from the throat-clearing Swiss dia-
lect to the yodeling Austrian dialect of
Vorarlberg and Tyrol. From a visual
point of view, the Swiss-Austrian bor-
der is hardly detectable. The moun-
tains look the same, as do the grazing
cows and red-and-white flags, the av-
alanche barriers and winding railway
tracks and tunnels. Only the soaring
number of solar panels on many roofs
announces the crossing of the Austri-
an border!
Indeed, Switzerland and Austria have
much in common.
Both countries are mountain countries
with stable economies, strong tourism
sectors, large infrastructure investments
in difficult topographical terrain and, last
but not least, a highly qualified mountain
research community. Indeed, the per cap-
ita ranking of mountain and alpine pub-
lications lists Switzerland and Austria
among the top three (Krner 2009). The
countries reinforce this position by host-
ing international scientific networks such
as the World Glacier Monitoring Service,
the Global Mountain Biodiversity As-
sessment and the MRI in Switzerland,
and the Institute of Mountain Research:
Man and Environment of the Austrian
Academy of Sciences based in Innsbruck
and Vienna (GLORIA Programme) in
50
Austria. Despite these common strengths
and interests, Switzerland and Austria do
not have a distinct tradition of research
collaboration. Joint research projects and
the exchange of expertise are the excep-
tion rather than the rule.
But this is about to change. With the
signature of the Memorandum of Un-
derstanding establishing the Swiss-
Austrian Alliance for the promotion of
basic and applied research to support
sustainable development in the mountain
regions of Europe the Swiss State Secre-
tariat for Education and Research at the
Swiss Federal Department of Home Af-
With the signature of the
Memorandum of Understand-
ing (...) the Swiss State
Secretariat for Education
and Research (...) and the
Austrian Federal Ministry
for Science and Research
declared their interest to
strengthen and expand the
bilateral activities in the field
of science and research in
mountain regions.
fairs of the Swiss Confederation and the
Austrian Federal Ministry for Science
and Research declared their interest to
strengthen and expand the bilateral activ-
ities in the field of science and research
in mountain regions.
The Memorandum is a landmark on the
way from Bern to Innsbruck, a landmark
reminding us to join forces in Swiss and
Austrian mountain research. To this end,
we may have to move some mountains
or dig some tunnels. However, with
a shared vision and a strong faith in re-
search partnerships we will succeed!
The Carpathian science community
Mountain Research Initiative Newsletter no. 7, 2012
clearly achieved success in the field of
cross-border collaboration. Under the
lead of Lubos Halada, Institute of Land-
scape Ecology, Slovak Academy of Sci-
ences, members of the Science for the
Carpathians (S4C) network organized
the 2nd Forum Carpaticum in Stara Le-
The Carpathian science
community clearly achieved
success in the field of cross-
border collaboration.
sna, Slovakia not only to bridge the gap
between national research efforts and
scientific disciplines, but also between
science and policy.
Important efforts to foster international
collaboration in mountain research in
Southeastern Europe were made by
Mehmet Somuncu, Ankara University,
who organized the 3rd SEEmore Confer-
ence in Ankara, Turkey. Under the head-
ing Mountain resources and their re-
sponse to Global Change the conference
enlarged the network in Turkey, estab-
lished contacts with colleagues working
Important efforts (...) were
made by Mehmet Somuncu,
Ankara University, who
organized the 3rd SEEmore
Conference in Ankara,
Turkey.
in the Caucasus and Iran and put SEE-
more on a more independent footing.
Astrid Bjrnsen Gurung
Scientific Program Manager
MRI-Europe, Institute of Geography,
University of Bern
astrid.bjoernsen@giub.unibe.ch
Cappadocia in eastern Anatolia, situated in the center of Turkey, has a unique historical and cultural heritage. Astrid Bjrnsen Gurung
The Swiss-Austrian Alliance
Since its launch in 2007, the MRI-Europe
network worked at the European scale
paying particular attention to the emerg-
ing science networks in Central (S4C)
and Southeastern Europe (SEEmore).
The Alpine community was, and still is,
well looked after by the Interacademic
This includes the promotion
of new scientific networks,
the coordination of thematic
activities and the facilitation
of the dialogue between
research and practice.
Commission for Alpine Studies (ICAS),
the International Scientific Committee
for Research in the Alps (ISCAR) and
other organizations, with which the MRI
Office collaborated.
With the recent mandate of the Swiss
State Secretariat for Education and Re-
search and the Austrian Ministry for Sci-
ence and Research the picture changed.
The Alliance is meant to capitalize on the
Mountain Research Initiative Newsletter no. 7, 2012
achievements of the Institute of Moun-
tain Research (IGF), which is a partner
institute of the MRI-Europe Program
since 2008, and on the experiences of the
MRI in terms of networking and program
development. At the same time, it takes
stock from the Alpine research networks
that were mainly established through
the efforts of ICAS and ISCAR. Ac-
cordingly, both the IGF (Valerie Braun)
and the MRI (Astrid Bjrnsen Gurung)
administer the Alliance as a joint effort
to strengthen and develop bilateral ac-
tivities in the field of mountain research.
This includes the promotion of new sci-
entific networks, the coordination of the-
matic activities and the facilitation of the
dialogue between research and practice.
Objectives of the Alliance
The Alliances objectives go beyond the
Swiss and Austrian mountain ranges and
stay in line with the earlier commitment
towards international outreach, interdis-
ciplinarity and the transfer from science
to practice. The Alliances Memorandum
of Understanding outlines five general
objectives:
1. Strengthening and development of bi-
lateral activities in the field of moun-
tain research.
2. Maintenance and expansion of the
role of European research activities on
sustainable development of mountain
areas in the international context.
3. Promotion of scientific networks be-
tween Universities and other research
institutions in European mountain re-
search and coordination of thematic
scientific activities.
4. Development of cooperation between
research and practice (policy, admin-
istration, business, civil society).
5. Overall social innovation and synergy
through regional and transnational,
interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary
research efforts.
What response do these objectives evoke
from the Swiss and Austrian mountain
research communities? Is there a felt
need to strengthen research partnerships
51

at the bilateral level?
Swiss-Austrian Mountain
Days 2013
The Alliance will do good to avoid two
things: the duplication of already exist-
ing activities and wasted efforts in activi-
ties without real demand. Before jumping
into action, the Alliance must generate
sound information on ongoing projects
and established contacts between the two
countries. Further, to develop a shared
vision, active mountain researchers need
to be consulted in the early program
stage in order to set achievable targets
reflecting their needs.
Aiming at the exchange of information
related to ongoing and planned research
activities in Switzerland and Austria,
the Swiss-Austrian Mountain Days or-
ganized in Mittersill, Austria on 11-13
June 2013, will provide such opportu-
nity. Apart from offering space for fos-
tering existing research partnerships and
networks, it provides the opportunity
to setup new thematic networks and to
identify emerging themes for mountain
research to champion not only at the
national, but also at the Alpine or Euro-
pean level. Participants of the Mountain
Days 2013 are expected to outline future
activities to be sized in the frame of the
CH-AT Alliance. Central to the success
of the Alliance is the question, how those
emerging networks and research projects
will be funded. A first step will be taken
in Mittersill.
From Science to Practice
Many of you will remember mountain.
TRIP, the FP7 project that transformed
research into practice between 2009 and
2011. The project was a very creative
Forum Carpaticum 2012. Field trip to the Tatra National Park, north Star Lesn, where the heavy windstorm of 2004 downed 12000 ha of forest, which
triggered extensive international ecological research on the site. Astrid Bjrnsen Gurung
52
and appealing attempt to facilitate the
dialogue between practitioners and re-
searchers. The CH-AT Alliance took over
the legacy of mountain.TRIP, although at
a far smaller scale. The exploitation of
scientific findings for practical use will
remain a top priority on the Alliances
agenda and Elmar Fleschutz, IGF, will
maintain the related webpage.
In line with the mountain.TRIP mission
is the linkage between the Alliances
Mountain Days 2013 and the Sympo-
sium for Research in Protected Areas on
10-12 June 2013 in Mittersill, Austria.
Although separate events, the overlap-
ping program allows participants to
benefit from the practice-oriented view
of a very broad audience. The organi-
zers encourage interested participants to
attend both meetings.
Science for the Carpathians:
Forum Carpaticum 2012
The remote location in the High Tatras
of Slovakia, spiced with few encounters
with brown bears, provided a stimulat-
ing framework for the assembly of 184
mountain researchers from 13 countries.
The various presentations and workshops
covering diverse topics from natural and
social science had one thing in common:
All authors were requested to identify the
link between their research and the Data-
Knowledge-Action cycle, and to provide
ideas on how to improve the relevance
and impact of their efforts for the sus-
tainable development of the Carpathian
region. These insights, together with the
feedbacks from the Session Chairs, will
be processed in the Forums synthesis
publication.
Mountain Research Initiative Newsletter no. 7, 2012
News from MRI Europe
The keynote speakers of the Forum fu-
eled the spirit and willingness to move
Carpathian science towards more open
data and information sharing. The open-
access advocate Cameron Neylon jolted
the audience with an arousing presenta-
tion on Network enabled research to
rethink academic conventions and to use
the innovative potential of web-based
technologies. The keynote on The SEIS
role in support of pan-European envi-
ronmental data sharing by Stefan Jen-
sen reminded the S4C community of the
wealth of existing data sharing platforms
and the need to relate Carpathian efforts
with global and European initiatives.
Obviously, data sharing is of high interest
to both, policy and science. On occasion
of the S4C Scientific Steering Committee
Meeting held in Stara Lesna, Slovakia,
the collaboration between S4C and the
Carpathian Convention represented by
(...) the collaboration
between S4C and the Carpa-
thian Convention represented
by the United Nations
Environmental Program
(UNEP) Vienna Office (...)
was enforced through a
Memorandum of Understand-
ing (MoU).
the United Nations Environmental Pro-
gram (UNEP) Vienna Office Interim
Secretariat of the Carpathian Convention
(ISCC) was enforced through a Memo-
randum of Understanding (MoU). The
MoU was signed by Rastislav Rybani
on behalf of the Slovak presidency of the
Carpathian Convention, Harald Egerer of
Field trip of SEEmore Conference participants to the heavily eroded volcano Erciyes (3916 m), the highest mountain in central Anatolia. Veliddin Balc

the UNEP-ISCC, and the new S4C Chair
Lubos Halada. The targeted fields of col-
laboration include the implementation of
the Research Agenda for the Carpath-
ians, the establishment of a Carpathian
Research Area and Data management
and access issues in the Carpathians.
Thus, the Forum strengthened the com-
mitment to devote significant attention
to data and information sharing tools and
mechanisms at the Carpathian scale, and
to seek linkages to thematic databases at
the European or global scale.
present their research.
Turkey is an amazing country in terms
of history, culture, nature and science!
The investments in research and devel-
opment are increasing, the performance
indicator shows a steady incline and the
country takes a good position in interna-
tional rankings. The number of research-
ers tripled in the last 12 years and, if we
look for mountain researchers, we had to
screen more than 180 Universities! Yet,
Consequently, informing the
Turkish science community
about SEEmore and MRI is
an obvious priority.
only a small fraction of Turkish research-
ers know about the SEEmore or the MRI

South Eastern European

Mountain Research Network
Meeting in Ankara
After the launch of the SEEmore net-
work in 2008 and the 2nd SEEmore
Conference in 2010, Prof. Mehmet So-
muncu, Ankara University, organized
the 3rd Meeting in Ankara on 5-8 July
2012. The event provided an opportunity
to enlarge the network in Turkey and to
establish contacts with colleagues work-
ing in the Caucasus and Iran. Under the
heading Mountain resources and their
response to Global Change more than
30 researchers attended the meeting to Conversation map documenting the discussion on future SEEmore activities
during the planning workshop in Ankara, July 2012. Astrid Bjrnsen Gurung

Mountain Research Initiative Newsletter no. 7, 2012 53


networks, even though 78% of Turkey is
labeled as mountain area (EEA Report
6, 2010). Consequently, informing the
Turkish science community about SEE-
more and MRI is an obvious priority.
However, due to the shifted focus of the
MRI-Program on the Swiss-Austrian
Alliance, the active involvement of the
MRI-Program Manager was terminated
by the end of July 2012, but not before
CH-AT Alliance:
3 questions for Rolf Weingartner
Claudia Drexler
MRI Communication Manager Clau-
dia Drexler spoke to Rolf Weingart-
ner about the Swiss Austrian Alliance.
Rolf Weingartner is Head of the Insti-
tute of Geography at the University of
Bern, Head of the Hydrology group,
and MRIs Principal Investigator.
MRI: What will a success-
ful CH-AT Alliance have
achieved after 5 years?
RW: Two countries with similar or al-
most identical research questions will
have realized that collaboration takes
them further. They will have learned
that to tackle the same research questions
54
the future of the SEEmore network had
been discussed in a workshop conducted
in the framework of the SEEmore Con-
ference. Several researchers, namely
Mariyana Nikolova, Georgi Zhelezov
and their Bulgarian colleagues, but also
Mehmet Somuncu with a growing com-
munity of Turkish scientists, are ready to
take the lead in developing SEEmore fur-
ther, which includes a concept and nomi-
from different backgrounds and with a
combination of approaches will lead to
an added value. Also, ideally, interdisci-
plinary projects will have increased after
5 years.
Let me explain with the example of flood
predictions for mountain streams. The
University of Innsbruck has developed
specific methods, as have the Hydrol-
ogy group of the University of Bern and
other institutes. Traditionally, flood as-
sessments would be handled nationally,
through a mandate by national or region-
al authorities to a national institute which
would use their own models for the as-
sessments. A successful CH-AT Alliance
will have established standard procedure
whereby the contractors collaborate in
such a mandate, combining their meth-
ods and models. All assessments will be
better when approaches and models are
combined! There is also an added value
scientifically: collaboration will stimu-
late the further development of methods
and models.
A big advantage for the CH-AT Alliance
is that its partners work in the same geo-
graphical space: the Alps. Collaborations
are much easier when the parties meet in
a concrete space with concrete question
Mountain Research Initiative Newsletter no. 7, 2012
News from MRI Europe
nation process to build a Scientific Steer-
ing Committee, the launch of a Turkish
Mountain Research Platform and the
draft of an Ankara Memorandum 2012.
and when they can set off together to find
solutions.
MRI: The Mountain Research
Initiative was one of the
promoters of the CH-AT
Alliance. Why?
To bring mountain researchers together is
one of the core competences of the MRI.
At the same time concrete collaborations
of the neighbors Switzerland and Austria
are surprisingly rare, and the MRI with
its global scope has not yet promoted
them so far.
The Institute for Mountain Research of
the University of Innsbruck (IGF) and
the Institute of Geography of Bern have
collaborated for many years and this col-
laboration has been part of my personal
agenda. With the CH-AT Alliance run
jointly by IGF and MRI it will be pos-
sible to give this Swiss-Austrian connec-
tion a long term basis and to expand it.
MRI: A young researcher
reads about CH-AT and likes
the idea. What can she do to
join the effort?
I would recommend that she join the
Swiss-Austrian Mountain Days planned
for 11-13 June 2013 (see link below).
With this event we want to see the Al-
liance take off, and we need the inputs
of interested people in order to define
concrete actions. The Mountain Days
will also be a research market place for
people of both countries working in the
Alps.

Apart from the institutional collaborations

described above the CH-AT Alliance aims
at bi-national research initiatives and proj-
ects. We need researchers interested in
leading or joining such efforts.

Personally, I want to emphasize another

focus of the Alliance: the transfer of sci-
entific knowledge to diverse audiences.
Both the Alliance and the MRI have im- Austria or Switzerland? Similar landscapes with often identical research questions Claudia Drexler
portant roles to play at the interface be-
tween researchers and the public.

Let me say that with the available fund-
ing the CH-AT Alliance can provide in-
centives and support for collaboration.
Success will then depend on the will-
ingness of the young researcher and her
colleagues to collaborate. But of course
success will not only depend on inter-
ested researchers: both the Swiss and the
Austrian funding agencies will have to
support and fund interdisciplinary and
transnational research proposals.
A measure of success will be the number
of transnational and/or interdisciplinary
research projects that we initiated and
got funding.
To conclude let me emphasize that the
Ministries of Research and Education
in both countries have recognized the
potential of transnational collaboration.
With their support of the CH-AT Alliance
the ministries have also shown that they
value the quality of mountain research in
both Austria and Switzerland.

Weblinks

Swiss-Austrian Alliance: www.chat-mountainalliance.eu

Swiss-Austrian Mountain Days 2013: http://www.chat-mountainalliance.eu/de/gebirgstage.html

Symposium for Research in Protected Areas: www.hohetauern.at/symposium2013

Forum Carpaticum 2012: http://uke.sav.sk/fc/fc_2012/FC_2012.html

SEEmore Conference 2012: http://csaum.ankara.edu.tr/index_en.php?bil=bil_icerik&icerik_id=30 or

http://mri.scnatweb.ch/archive/mountain-resources-and-their-response-to-global-change-5-8-july-2012-ankara-turkey

Publications

EEA Report (2010). Europes ecological backbone: recognizing the true value of our mountains. 248 pp.

Krner Ch. (2009). Global Statistics of Mountain and Alpine Research. Mountain Research and Development 29(1):
97-102.

Mountain Research Initiative Newsletter no. 7, 2012 55

News from MRIs Regional Networks
S4C, Science for the
Carpathians
S4C focuses on the transfer of scientific knowledge to
practice and policy
ubo Halada
With the Forum Carpaticum 2012
and significant changes in the organi-
zational structure of the Science for
the Carpathians (S4C) network these
last months were an important peri-
od.
Forum Carpaticum 2012
S4C pays increased attention to the
transfer of scientific knowledge to prac-
tice and policy. This focus was evident
in the title of the Forum Carpaticum
2012 (FC2012): From Data to Knowl-
edge, from Knowledge to Action. The
FC2012 participants were asked to re-
flect this focus of the conference in their
presentations and to include recommen-
dations for improvements of the data-
Participants of the Forum Carpaticum 2012 in front of the venue Matej Demko
56
knowledge-action cycle.
The S4C Scientific Steering Committee
had been augmented with a few external
members. The Committee played a cru-
cial role in the preparation of FC2012 as
the FC2012 Scientific Board. Thanks to
the enthusiasm of its members the Scien-
tific Board reviewed a great number of
abstracts in a short time of a few weeks
and selected 76 oral presentations and 64
posters in its meeting on 2-3 February
2012 in Smolenice (Slovakia).
The FC2012 was held on 30 May 2
June 2012 in Star Lesn (High Ta-
tra Mts., Slovakia) under the honor-
ary patronage of His Excellency Ivan
Mountain Research Initiative Newsletter no. 7, 2012
Gaparovi, president of the Slovak Re-
public and with financial support of the
International Visegrad Fund and the Slo-
vak Academy of Sciences. The FC2012
Scientific Board was chaired by ubo
Halada, the main person responsible for
the event. The organization committee
was chaired by Andrej Baa, also from
the Institute of Landscape Ecology SAS.
FC2012 had four plenary presentations,
14 thematic sessions running in parallel,
poster sessions, six workshops, the con-
ference walk and post-conference excur-
sions to three destinations.
The conference started with the plenary
speech of Cameron Neylon, entitled
Network Enabled Research: Not just
better, but different advocating for open
data access, data sharing and networking.
It introduced perfectly the scope of the
conference. Other plenary presentations
such as The SEIS role in support of pan-
European environmental data sharing
by Stefan Jensen, Remote Sensing of
Mountain Environment Sate of the Art
and Outlook by Marc Zebish and The
Carpathian Convention - A platform for
cooperation and interaction between Car-
pathian science and policy by Harald
Egerer, addressed the FC2012 theme in
The conference started
with the plenary speech of
Cameron Neylon: Network
Enabled Research: not just
better, but fundamentally
different.
specific fields. Parallel sessions covered
a broad scale of themes and fields ranging
from the abiotic domain (e.g. landforms
dynamics and recent soils changes) to the
socio-economic domain (e.g. the human
dimension of nature management). The
session From Knowledge to Action
focused entirely on the main conference
topic.
Peter Fleischer (Research Station of the TANAP State Forest) lead the conference walk to the research sites in forest damaged by windstorm in 2004
Astrid Bjrnsen Gurung
Mountain Research Initiative Newsletter no. 7, 2012
The workshops featured the Carpathian
Convention, various organizations and
projects with the pan-Carpathian scope
such as the WWF Danube-Carpathian
Programme, the European Forest Insti-
tute, CARPIVIA project or focussed on
specific themes such as nature protec-
tion from a stakeholders view, or the role
of the National Platform of Covenant
of Mayors in the adaptation to climate
change.
In the closing session, the participants
discussed four questions related to
open access and data sharing as ways
to achieve pan-Carpathian collaboration
and to promote the transfer of research
results to the public and to policy mak-
ers.
The scientific programme was balanced
with more relaxing activities: a mid-con-
ference walk to the High Tatra Mts. re-
search sites and museum, the conference
dinner with Slovak folklore, the Ukrai-
nian music group (thanks to Saskia War-
ners), and post-conference excursions to
High Tatra Mts., Dunajec river, and the
Spi region.
The FC represented an important milestone.
Astrid Bjrnsen characterized its place in
the short history of the S4C: the Carpath-
ian mountain research community moved
from the expression of interest to collaborate
at the pan-Carpathian scale (in 2008), to the
prioritization of research needs (2010) and to
a strong expression towards a data and infor-
mation sharing strategy for the Carpathian
area (2012) see http://mri.scnatweb.ch/
easyblog/entry/forum-carpaticum-2012-liv-
ing-the-q4-isq.
S4C Scientific Steering
Committee
The FC2012 was also an opportunity for
a meeting of the S4C Scientific Steering
Committee (SSC) at which the previous-
ly proposed and discussed changes in the
SSC structure were approved. New mem-
bers were nominated and approved. The
SSC now consists of 30 members. This
size of SSC induced a need to establish
an Executive Committee, subsequently
elected by the SSC. The Executive Com-
mittee will work in this structure: ubo
Halada (chair), Astrid Bjrnsen-Gurung
(co-chair), Jacek Kozak, Katalin Mzsa,
Ivan Kruhlov (members). The next Fo-
rum Carpaticum will be held in 2014 in
the Lviv region (Ukraine).
The effort for a closer collaboration
of the S4C with the Carpathian Con-
vention (CC) resulted in the signature
57
 Signing of the Memorandum of Understanding with the Carpathian Convention . Rastislav Rybanic,
Harald Egerer and Lubos Halada. UNEP, Vienna

of the Memorandum of Understand-
ing (MoU) during the FC2012. The
MoU was signed by Rastislav Rybani
(Ministry of Environment of Slovakia,
the CC presidency country), Harald
Egerer (CC Interim Secretariat) and
ubo Halada (S4C chair). The MoU
The S4C Scientific
Steering Committee now
consists of 30 members.
provides a durable basis for collaboration
in the fields of scientific research, project
development and implementation, infor-
mation exchange and knowledge transfer
in the field of nature protection and sus-
tainable development.
Collaboration in the development of the
Information Strategy for the Carpathians
and participation of S4C in the prepara-
tion of the Carpathian Convention proto-
cols were identified as priorities for the
coming months. The first practical steps
have already been taken.
The S4C with the support of the Moun-
tain Research Initiative (MRI) organized
a survey among the S4C network mem-
bers about the establishment of a Car-
pathian data portal. Both the CC Interim
Secretariat and S4C participated in the
meeting with the European Environment
Agency (EEA) aiming at the preparation
of the agreement on future cooperation
between EEA and CC. The CC and S4C
aim at developing a common project that
could initiate the development of a Car-
pathian information system.
Two protocols of the Carpathian Con-
vention are under preparation currently:
the Protocol on sustainable agriculture
and rural development and the Protocol
on sustainable transport and infrastruc-
ture. The S4C Executive Committee
identified experts in the S4C community
ready to comment on the protocols and
approached some experts outside the
network, e.g. from IENE, the Infra Eco
Network Europe. S4C comments were
recently delivered to the Secretariat of
the Carpathian Convention.
Thus MoU implementation has already
begun and hopefully it will bring good
results for the contracting parties as well
as for the Carpathians.

Author
ubo Halada
Institute of Landscape Ecology SAS, Slovakia
lubos.halada@savba.sk

Weblinks

http://mri.scnatweb.ch/mri-europe-carpathians

Forum Carpaticum 2012: http://uke.sav.sk/fc/fc_2012/FC_2012.html

The Carpathian Convention: www.carpathianconvention.org/

Infra Eco Network Europe (IENE): www.iene.info/

S4C Scientific Steering Committee: http://mri.scnatweb.ch/mri-europe/carpathians/s4c-scientific-steering-committee

58 Mountain Research Initiative Newsletter no. 7, 2012

Meeting Notes

Traditional environmental
knowledge
Summary Report of the Saem Majnep Memorial Symposium
held at the University of Goroka, Papua New Guinea
31 October 2 November 2012

Colin Filer

The Saem Majnep Memorial Sympo-

sium was named in honour of one of
PNGs first internationally recognized
indigenous knowledge experts, who was
born in a mountainous corner of Madang
Province around 1948, before his Kalam
people had any contact with the Austra-
lian colonial administration. In collabo-
ration with anthropologist Ralph Bulmer
and linguist Andrew Pawley, Saem wrote
two books and several articles document-
ing the traditional environmental knowl-
edge of the Kalam people, for which he
was awarded an honorary doctorate by
the University of PNG in 1989.

The symposium organized in his honour

was largely funded by The Christensen
Fund, with additional support from the
University of Goroka, the Australian
National University and the University
of Aberdeen. The basic aim of the sym-
posium was to enhance the capacity of
universities in PNG to train students in
the appreciation and documentation of
traditional environmental knowledge,
engage them in deeper processes of in-
teraction with the local holders of such
knowledge, and involve them in wider
processes of bio-cultural education, ex-
pression, and revitalization.
The symposium was attended by roughly
100 people with an interest in this sub-
ject, including the Director of PNGs
National Museum, staff and students
from five of PNGs six universities, staff
from a number of conservation organi-
zation active in PNG, and a number of
local village experts who have followed
Participants follow local landowner representatives into the opening plenary. Colin Filer
Saem Majneps example by working in
partnership with outsiders to document
traditional environmental knowledge.
Most of the discussion at the symposium
was taken up with:
a review of what has so far been
achieved in the documentation and
dissemination of traditional environ-
mental knowledge in and from PNG,
with particular focus on partnerships
between scientific and local experts,
and on the relationship between re-
search and education; and
a review of new technologies for
documentation and dissemination of
traditional environmental knowledge
at local, national and international
scales, with appropriate recognition
of issues involving intellectual prop-
erty rights.
In light of these discussions, plans are
now underway to develop a set of web-
based resources to facilitate the docu-
mentation and dissemination of tradi-
tional environmental knowledge through
systems of formal and informal educa-
tion in PNG.
For further information on the progress
of these plans, contact
Colin.Filer@anu.edu.au

Mountain Research Initiative Newsletter no. 7, 2012 59

The Mountain Research Initiative
c/o Institute of Geography,
University of Bern
Erlachstrasse 9a, Trakt 3
3012 Bern
Switzerland
+41 (0)31 631 51 41

mri@giub.unibe.ch
http://mri.scnatweb.ch