Introduction and Road Map for Impact of Global Changes on High-Mountains - Impact of Global Changes on Mountains: Responses and Adaptation - page 26

ecological conditions and as an economic driver for the whole country.
However, the management of the sensitive ecosystems of the Sri Lankan
Highlands is extremely fragile and destructive which started with the
deforestation during the colonial period and is still going on. Climatic
changes and the destruction of natural potential infl uence the whole
country. Breuste and Dissanayake in this chapter have identifi ed some of
the strengths/weaknesses, opportunities and threats that have an impact on
this area to identify the impacts of global social, political and environmental
changes on Sri Lanka's Central Highlands. As suggested by the authors a
strategy for sustainable utilization together with the preservation of natural
potential must be developed and implemented to secure the values of the
unique tropical highlands.
Moving from Asia to Europe the next chapter explores the post-
disaster development in HighTatras National Park as an example of
how natural and social systems imposed to global changes are becoming
vulnerable to external as well as internal disturbances. Global climate
changes may seriously affect the system's capacity to absorb external and
internal disturbances and the adaptation capacity of natural and social
systems without fundamental changes of their quality. In our study, the
windstorm that devastated forest ecosystems of High Tatras Natural
Park accelerated existing confl icts and institutional threats in resource
management and created several social challenges for forest management
and spatial development in the region. Finka and Kluvankova in this
case study have explored 'Urbars' as a governance regime to cope with
unpredictable disturbances and complexity of global changes. As discussed
by the authors, the operation of urbars determine ecosystem dynamics and
sustainable use of forest resources as an attribute of economic profi t. In
addition institutional structure of urbars increase internal system stability
and reduces vulnerability against external shocks. Urbars are thus seen as
more resilient than individual private or state property resource regimes.
The next few case studies focus on the Americas (both North and South).
The chapter by Barkin examines the ingredients that went into developing
constructive strategies to facilitate the survival of the hundreds of ethnic
groups that continue to inhabit the highlands of Latin America. Without
going into historical discussion of these developments, this presentation
offers a suggestive examination of the concerted efforts by communities
throughout the region to maintain their identities, to develop mechanisms
to assure increasing degrees of autonomy in the face of intensifying efforts
to integrate them into the ranks of the poorest people in national societies
and global markets. Throughout Latin America mountain peoples are
rediscovering and updating their traditional cosmologies along with their
knowledge systems to develop unique proposals for harnessing their
material, human and natural resources to improve their quality of life