Governance and Laws of Mountains - Impact of Global Changes on Mountains: Responses and Adaptation - page 169

7 7A
Contribution of International
and National Law
Marcia Dieguez Leuzinger 1 and
Solange Teles da Silva 2
Mountains, hills, mounts and ranges have always played a major role in the
cultures of different human societies. They perform key functions in keeping
diverse ecosystems, climate systems and the production and distribution of
water in balance. Just like water bodies, mountains also divide the planet
to form different ecosystems and climatic conditions (Price et al. 2011).
Diverse human cultures also consider many mountains, hills, mountains
and ranges as sacred places. In addition to all those reasons, many mountain
ranges have also been placed under protection due to their importance as
landscapes or the need to limit human settlements and activities.
The legal protection of hills, mounts, mountains and ranges, however, is
a challenge. Can legal tools from environmental law and land-use regulations
provide broad forms of protection for these geological formations, or do we
need special tools to grant them specifi c protection? An analysis of legal
protection for hills, mounts, mountains and ranges must consider both the
general context for their protection and specifi c norms from a variety of
regulatory fi elds required to achieve that protection. We will look fi rst at
emerging international expressions of protection for mountains, and then
1 Professor of Environmental Law at Uniceub (Brasilia - Brazil), Programa de Mestrado e
Doutorado em Direito, SEPN 707/907 Bloco 3 térreo, 70790-075 Brasília - DF/Brazil.
Email: [e-mail]
2 Professor of Environmental Law at Mackenzie Presbyterian University (São Paulo - Brazil),
Programa de Mestrado e Doutorado em Direito Político e Econômico, Rua da Consolação
n. 896, prédio 3 subsolo, 01302-000 São Paulo - SP/Brazil.
National Council for Scientifi c and Technological Development (CNPq).
Email: [e-mail]
# Corresponding author: fl [e-mail]