Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
landscapes including biodiversity loss, desertification and forest fires. Therefore a
payment scheme is introduced for these areas to mitigate these risks (EC, 2005).
LFAs comprise, under Article 18 of Council Regulation 1257/1999, mountains
among other areas: 'Mountain Areas are characterised as those areas handicapped
by a short growing season because of a high altitude, or by steep slopes at a lower
altitude, or by a combination of the two. Areas north of the 62nd parallel are also
delimited as Mountains.'
The provision of services by mountain systems has been reiterated in this topic
and include biodiversity, water, energy and traditional ecological knowledge (MEA,
2005). The provision of, and more importantly the demand on, these ecosystem ser-
vices extend beyond the mountain boundaries. Therefore finding ways to estimate
these services in money terms, in a way that would benefit mountain communi-
ties, remains a challenge. Some examples of guidelines for Mediterranean moun-
tain development are given in Table 10.1. Alternative (low-impact) tourism sector,
participatory forestry and co-management schemes of protected areas are some
of the pathways towards sustainable mountain development. In particular 'soft'
tourism development may be related to reviving past activities through family busi-
nesses, which may lead to income generation while at the same time keeping culture
alive (Benoit and Comeau, 2005). Of course it is difficult to predict the responses
of human communities in mountain regions to the changing environment they live
in (Funnell and Parish, 2001).
Table 10.1
Examples of guidelines for Mediterranean mountains' development (Regato and
Salman, 2008)
Theme
Example guideline
1. Ecosystems management
Implementation of the Ecosystem Approach to support
large-scale conservation and sustainable development
2. Watershed management
Maintenance and restoration of locally adapted management
practices for mountain watersheds
3. Climate change adaptation
Design and implementation of participatory systems to
monitor the effect of climate change
4. Mountain people
Enhance the self-esteem of mountain dwellers and correct the
perception that society has of mountain cultures
5. Cultural and spiritual
heritage
Use beliefs and attitudes held by mountain communities about
the environment that could assist with the preservation of
mountain integrity
6. Rural development
Increase funding opportunities/measures to restore the
environment-development balance in mountains
7. Legal and institutional
framework
Develop specific legal frameworks adapted to Mediterranean
mountain societies
8. Transboundary cooperation Develop a partnership framework between Mediterranean
mountain areas
