Global Change and Mountains: Consequences, Responses and Opportunities - Impact of Global Changes on Mountains: Responses and Adaptation - page 80

world's forests which not only constitute global biodiversity hot spots and
the pool of genetic resources, but they also regulate and modify climatic
conditions and contribute towards mitigating global warming through
serving as carbon sinks (ICIMOD 2010). Mountain agriculture and farming
systems constitute the principal source of food and livelihood for about half
a billion population. The indigenous communities inhabiting mountain
regions since time immemorial have evolved diversity of cultures that
comprise traditional knowledge, resource development and environmental
conservation practices, agricultural and food systems, adaptation and
coping mechanism, languages, customs, traditions, costumes, conventions
and rituals which have immense relevance and practical signifi cance
in environmental restoration, climate change adaptation and ensuring
sustained resource productivity in mountain ecosystems (ICIMOD 2010).
But, mountains have long been marginalized from the view point of
sustainable development of their resources and inhabitants. However, our
understanding about the problems of mountain regions and approach
to their development has undergone drastic changes, during the recent
years. Currently, mountain ecosystems as well as mountain communities
are particularly threatened by the ongoing processes of environmental
global change, population dynamics and globalizing economy and
resultant exploitation of mountain resources (Borsdorf et al. 2010). During
the recent years, a variety of changes have emerged in the traditional
resource use structure in high mountain areas, particularly in developing
and underdeveloped regions of the world mainly in response to changing
global economic order, transforming political systems, rapid urban growth,
increased demographic pressure and resultant increased demand and
exploitation of natural resources. As a result, mountain regions of the world
are passing through a process of rapid environmental, socio-economic and
cultural transformation and exploitation and depletion of their natural
resources leading to ecological imbalances and economic un-sustainability
both in upland and lowland areas (Haigh et al. 2002, Tiwari 2000).
Moreover, the changing climatic conditions have already stressed
mountain ecosystems through higher mean annual temperatures and
melting of glaciers and snow, altered precipitation patterns and hydrological
disruptions, and more frequent and extreme weather events. In this context,
climate change acts as an additional stress which can multiply existing
development defi cits and may also reverse the process of socio-economic
development in mountain regions particularly in underdeveloped and
developing countries (UNDP 2010). Mountain people, who have contributed
the least to global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and helped signifi cantly
in mitigating climate change through promoting carbon sequestration
by preserving the largest proportion of forests on the planet are likely to
be the worst affected by long-term impacts of climate change (ICIMOD